CRWN: An Alternate RWBY Story
by Harbinger of Shadows
Summary: What if Yang left with Raven and joined her tribe? What if Tai fell into a deeper depression and couldn't take care of an infant Ruby? What if Ruby was left with a foster family and knew nothing about her former family? Join Ruby and her adoptive older brother as they form Team CRWN (Crown) and make their way through Beacon Academy and discover more about themselves in the process.
1. A Fresh Beginning

CRWN: An Alternate RWBY Story

When the airship had landed at Beacon Academy, the young Huntsmen and Huntresses to be gathered their belongings and walked off the airship. Excitement was palpable as they looked around the sprawling courtyard. Each and every one of them there for a reason and a purpose. Some weren't exactly perfectly noble, but they had their reasons. Out of all the new students their were two that stood out from the rest.

Ruby Rose was a prodigy in the making. She gained entrance to Beacon at only 15, making her the youngest person to ever attend the most prestigious hunting academy in the world. She wore a black corset and a black combat skirt, with black leggings and black combat boots. Her black hair was down to her shoulders, tipped with red highlights. Her sliver eyes shined with curiosity and hope for the future. The only article of clothing on her was her red cloak, given to her when she was 10 by her foster father. It flowed down and fluttered in the wind, as she looked around for the person she arrived with.

"Come on! We'll be late at this rate!" Ruby yelled out at the airship

"Alright, alright! I'm coming, just keep your cloak on!" a deeper voice yelled out from the ship

Out walked a man who wore as much black, if not more, than the young huntress.

Charlie Mercury had on what he called "more practical" clothing than his younger sister. He wore a black t-shirt with white text on it, a black leather jacket he got from his grandfather, black jeans and a pair of black sneakers. His black hair was about as long as Ruby's, except without the red highlights. His eye color was a more subdued brown, which at the moment shined a more golden hue as the sunlight beamed down on the students of Beacon.

"So now that we're here? Got any clue as to where we're suppose to go?" Charlie asked as he looked around for a sense of direction.

"Nope..." Ruby responded, popping the "p" at the her sentence.

"Alright, I suggest we split up and ask around. Shoot a message if you figure anything out." Charlie said as he pulled out his scroll, pointing it at his younger sister as he walked off.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" the redhead yelled after her brother. Noticing that he probably wouldn't respond even if she did hear him, she sighed and turned around to find some direction only to bump into one of the other students and spilling their luggage all over the courtyard.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the teen yelled, clearly fuming

"I'm so sorry! Let me help!" Ruby pleaded, fumbling with the luggage before having it ripped from her hands.

"You've done enough to help! Do you even know what's in here? This is Dust, pure, concentrated energy." she shouted

"Well, I'm Ruby. What's your name?"

"Weiss Schnee. Now that we've met, let's never talk again." Weiss said coldly, as she grabbed her luggage and walked off

"Wait, do you at least know where we're suppose to go?" Ruby's shout went unheard for the second time that day. Making no progress, she went off in a different direction.

 **Charlie's POV**

"Okay, who to ask. Who to ask?" the man in black pondered, scanning around the courtyard looking for somebody who might know where they were suppose to go.

"Sweet mother of Oum, it's hot out here. Good thing I came with layers." Charlie said taking of his jacket and putting it in the bag he had slung over his shoulder. The shirt he had on underneath wasn't anything spectacular, as it read one thing on the chest…

 _BÁLOR CLUB: now and fOreVER_

He was sure that somebody would ask about his shirt at some point, just as everybody else who saw it did. Putting that thought aside, he noticed someone nearby a tree reading a book.

 _She looks like a student, maybe she'll know where we're suppose to go_ Charlie pondered to himself. He walked over to the girl under the tree and sat right next to her. Glancing over her shoulder, he quickly scanned the page and tapped her shoulder making the girl jump.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Charlie Mercury, and my sister and I are trying to figure out where we're suppose to go for the opening ceremony. What's your name?" he asked, extending his hand.

"Blake Belladonna." Blake said simply, shaking his hand before going back to the book before her.

"Blake, huh? That's a nice name. Way better than mine. Would you happen to know where the opening ceremony is being held by any chance?" Charlie asked

"Go to the main courtyard and go to the big building past the fountain. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to my book." Blake said dryly as she went back to reading

Charlie couldn't help but notice what the girl next to him was wearing. She was wearing a white and black blouse, black leggings like Ruby's, and black high heels. Another thing she couldn't help but notice was the black bow atop her black head of hair. Upon a bit of closer inspection, he noticed the bow twitching every now and again. _Why is that bow twitching?_ Charlie couldn't help but wonder, but figured he was just seeing things.

"So, what'cha reading?" Charlie asked as he looked at the book's cover

"Don't you have a sister to find" Blake responded, her tone still as dry as before

"You wound me, you really do." Charlie responded sarcastically, feigning hurt. "I suppose you're right though, I should go find her. Thanks for the directions. Maybe we'll see each other around" he waved at Blake as he made his way to the main courtyard. _"Hey, I found directions to the ceremony. Meet me in the central courtyard_ " the message he sent to Ruby read as a confirmation message was received moments later.

 **Beacon Academy Dorm Hall – Late Evening**

After the ceremony had concluded, the first year students were sent to the dorms where they'd be staying before forming their teams and receiving proper dorms afterwards. Students had their sleeping bags sprawled across the floor as some others had their belonging lined against the walls. Charlie and Ruby had their bags in the middle of the floor, awaiting the next day where they'd be launched into initiation and they were chatting up a storm.

"So, what are the odds we're on the same team?" Ruby asked as Charlie sat polishing his weapon.

Charlie's weapon was just like he was, different. It was a sword with a thin, yet sturdy blade and it came with a secret that not many knew. With a press of the button on the hilt of the sword, the handle extended and the blade curved to form a scythe. While Ruby's weapon was similar to Charlie's, being a high-caliber sniper-scythe. Although the weapons were similar, their names couldn't have been more different. Charlie's sword-scythe was named Omen, while Ruby's was named Crescent Rose. She didn't know why the name fit so well, but she liked it and stuck with it.

"I'd say they'd be pretty good, but we never know what'll happen. You should be prepared in case we're not teammates. I'm not going to be around forever, ya know?" Charlie replied in a casual way.

"I know but-" Ruby said before being cut off

"Hold that thought, there's someone I have to talk. Watch our stuff, don't need anybody stealing our shit." Charlie said before giving a small salute to Ruby to which she returned.

Walking over to the door, he walked found his way to the roof of Beacon Academy. He liked being out of the spotlight and away from crowds. Places where he could look out at the world below were his favorite places to be. Scanning the area before reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a golden box and put it to his mouth. Clicking a button and inhaling, the box lit up a vivid purple and he exhaled a cloud of vapor. It wasn't something he was particularly proud of, and he did it away from Ruby so she wouldn't get any ideas. Looking out into the skyline, he saw the city below and how it was always so busy.

"You know that not really healthy right?"

Turning his head in the direction of the voice, he saw Blake leaning on the door where he came in. Turning around he addressed the new person on the roof with him.

"Hey, I'm over the age and it's better than pulling out a pack of cigs isn't it?" Charlie's only rebuttal only got a simple shrug out of Blake, who walked over and joined him by the railing of the outer balcony.

"So, what are your plans for initiation?" Blake asked simply to which she got a similar shrug from the man standing next to her

"No clue, complete my objective and figure the rest out from there. Not much I can do without knowing what exactly we're suppose to do. What about you?" Charlie asked

"Same thing, we don't know what the goal is. It's better to plan with all needed information then going without a plan at all." Blake said

"They always do say geniuses think alike, but I wouldn't peg myself for a genius as I'm sure you wouldn't either. Personally, I hope that we end up being partners. You seem like a cool enough person. Not much for conversation, though huh?" Charlie asked, wanting to know why the raven haired huntress was so quiet.

"I think that would be nice, you seem like a collected enough individual. Unlike those meatheads in there." Blake motioning to the hall where the rest of the students were

"Speaking of initiation, we should probably get some sleep. Don't need to be tired come tomorrow. After you." Charlie said as they both walked to the door, holding it open.

"My, my. Someone's a gentleman." Blake quipped as they both walked back to the hall. Both hunters curious as to how tomorrow would go, what would happen, and other things of the like. When they both returned, Charlie noticed Ruby arguing with a white haired teen. Something about spilling dust in the courtyard. After stepping in, he deduced that he was speaking to Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. After the whole exchange, they all went to sleep. Each of them with a similar thought as they all drifted off to sleep.

 _I wonder what tomorrow will bring_ Ruby thought

 _I hope I'm not paired with that dolt_ Weiss thought

 _I hope that Blake and I are partners_ Charlie thought

 _That Charlie guy seems pretty interesting, this is going to be something_ Blake thought

 **End of Chapter 1**


	2. A New Legacy Begins

**Hey, so these chapters will odds are be published as they're finished (of course after a proof reading session) and as I find inspiration, which shouldn't be hard considering I brainstorm all the time. Just figured I'd let you know, so stay chill**

 **Oh also, I'm thinking of changing the OC's weapon. I'm thinking it will play into the story at some point, but I'm not sure as to how I'm going to pull it off. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to PM me and I'll take your idea into consideration.**

 **One last thing: I read some of the reviews from the first chapter and there was a question. So here's your answer: Mercury Black isn't Ruby's brother. Charlie's last name was something I came up with way before I even heard of RWBY, so call it a colorful coincidence.**

 **Charlie Mercury and Mercury Black aren't the same person. Thanks for the reviews guys. Keep it chill.**

 **-Charlie Mercury**

As the students were lined up at the top of the cliff overlooking Emerald Forest, they were given the rundown as to how initiation would work. Charlie spent the entire speech preparing himself, his gear, and his weapon. From what he deduced from his half paying attention it went something like this:

1) First person you lock eyes with is your partner for the next 4 year _Sweet Oum, I hope I find a decent partner_ Charlie said to himself

2) You and your new partner are to find the forest temple and retrieve a relic

3) Bring the relic back to the cliff and team will be decided later that evening

"Well that seems simple enough, well here goes nothing..." Charlie mumbled under his breath as he put on his shades and readied his stance, a look of determination reflected in his golden brown eyes. It wasn't a look that many saw, but when it showed it was best to stay out of his way. His determination is rivaled almost, _almost_ , by Ruby's hyperactivity and hell would freeze over before he would admit defeat.

 _3…_

 _Well it's now or never..._ Ruby said to herself, reading her own stance with Crescent Rose

 _2…_

 _Time to raise some hell…_ Charlie's excitement going through the roof, turning Omen into Scythe Mode

 _1…_

 _Time to see where this take us…_ Blake kept that thought tucked away, unsheathing Gambol Shroud

 _BEGIN!_

As Goodwitch shouted, the platforms underneath the students sprung them into the forest below. As they all descended, Charlie couldn't help but notice the other student's landing choices. One guy was jumping from tree to tree, he must be like a ninja of some kind. Weiss was using her glyphs to almost glide through the air, kinda figured that. Wait, is the one chick riding a sledgehammer? Man, I gotta pick my words better, even in my own thoughts. Looking ahead, he used Omen's scythe blade to swing off tree branches going from tree to tree. When he thought he was going to face plant into a nearby tree, he activated his primary semblance, which he dubbed Phantom.

Turning into a shadow, or something along that line, he fazed through the tree trunk and reformed continued swinging from branch to branch. Upon hitting the ground, Charlie tucked and rolled to a halt as he surveyed his surroundings. Not seeing anyone in the area, he ventured off to find his partner.

 **Meanwhile – Blake's POV**

In a different part of the Forest, the nimble huntress-to-be leapt from tree to tree, much as the boy she befriended the evening prior. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something _different_ about him, she just couldn't put her finger of exactly what. Was it his choice of attire? No that looked rather normal but she was curious as to what the shirt read, but shoved that thought aside once he sat down and started talking. Was it the way he talked to her? No that seemed normal for him as well. Could it be-

The thought has to wait as she lost her concentration and slipped off a branch, but still managing to find her footing. She decided then to just venture on foot, trying to find the person who would end up being her partner for her stay at Beacon. It was at this point when she noticed some Grimm in one of the clearings, being fought by a peculiar figure. Springing into action, believing it to be another student, she sliced the Ursa right in it's throat as she landed right behind it. Giving it a light tap of her foot, the creature fell over before disintegrating in front of her. On the other side, was none other than the man in black she had met only yesterday.

The man known as Charlie Mercury

"You know, I had that" Charlie heaved as he attached the now sword to his back, walking up to his new partner

"I'm sure you did. Now, come on we don't have all day. We need to find the relic." Blake cut right to the point, not wanting to waste any time.

"My, my. Someone's rearing to go. Great, let's get moving!" Charlie fist pumped before they both took off towards the direction they thought the temple was it.

"You know, I'm glad we're partners. At least I know who you are, so it's not like meeting a stranger and figuring out what kind of a person they are." Charlie spoke after running for a long while, stopping to get a view of the area

"And what makes you think you know what kind of a person I am?" Blake asked very simply

"Despite popular belief, I'm a very perceptive person. Like that bow on your head, it's been twitching like crazy since we started running. Using our conversation last night, you're a planner. Not wanting to run head first without a plan and even a back-up plan. Trust me, we'll get along great!" Charlie said, giving a slight smirk towards his partner.

"Not to change the subject, but do you have any idea as to where we need to go" Blake turned around to see her partner not there. Scanning the area, she looked up when she heard a shout coming from the top of a nearby tree.

"What are you doing? Are you insane?!" Blake shouted up the tree at the man in black, who was currently getting a look from the new vantage point before jumping down

"You know you're the first person to ever ask me that. To which I answer, probably." he said with a slight shrug

"Were you _trying_ to kill yourself?!" Blake kept shouting

"If I was, it wouldn't be in front of a witness, now would it? Besides, what's the point of living if you don't do something crazy every now and then. The temple is that way, just over that ridge. If we hurry we can grab our relic and bolt before anyone else knows we were ever there." Charlie said quickly before running off in the direction of the temple with Blake following close behind.

"There it is. So what's the plan" he said turning towards Blake, who simply walked up to the shrine and looked at the relics

"Chess pieces? Are these the relics? Seem like an odd choice?" Blake asked, turning towards Charlie who had already grabbed their relic. Once they grabbed their relic, they noticed the rest of the students running up and claiming their pieces. What they also noticed were the other pairings:

 _Ruby and Weiss? Dear Oum I don't know who I feel more bad for._

 _Isn't that the chick who was riding her sledeham- no we're not going down that road again. That's the guy who was leaping like a ninja. Well, they seem to be on the right page. Maybe they know each other._

 _Pyrrah Nikos and Jaune Arc, huh? Wasn't he the guy who threw up on the airship ride here?_

Charlie's thoughts would come to an end when they all noticed the giant Grimm coming out of the forest. A King Taijitu, a giant scorpion grimm. A Nevermore soon joined the fray, making Charlie groan out of pure frustration as he readied Omen once more. Just before acting, Jaune had asked the million dollar question.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Follow my lead. Ruby and Weiss, take it from the left. Ren and Nora, from behind. Jaune, Pyrrah, Blake, we'll take it from the front. If it gets dicey, we book it back to the cliff. There's no shame in retreat. Understood?" Charlie said, taking center stage. Everyone nodded in agreement and took their positions. After a several minutes of intense fighting, they realized that they were making no progress at all. That was until an idea popped into the raven haired huntsman's head. It was crazy, but it just might work.

"Weiss, can you get me on top of the Nevermore?" he asked

Blake was the voice of reason, or at least trying to be

"No. I won't let you try to kill yourself. It's not worth it, we should just retreat.

"Trust me, it's a long shot but it just might work. We need to take this thing on as a unit, not as individuals. Please Blake, trust me." he pleaded

"Weiss, can you make it?" Blake turned and asked the alabaster teen

"Can I?" she asked, trying to be sarcastic

"Can you?" Ruby piped in, genuinely confused

"Of course I can" Weiss snapped back

Forming a glyph under Charlie feet, he prepared to jump. Changing Omen into a scythe just over the bird grimm's head, he swung the weapon down as hard as he could effectively decapitating the creature. What he wasn't so prepared for was the descent afterwards. Blake shouted for Weiss to do something, so she created more glyphs to slow him down or better yet cushion the impact altogether. Falling through several of them before eventually stopping just shy of the ground.

Being all exhausted from their firefight earlier in the day, everyone went to the showers to freshen up before the ceremony. Opting for a more "formal" attire, Charlie's leather jacket was swapped for a black blazer while still keeping in tradition and wearing black jeans and his sneakers. Everyone else was in their typical attire. When Ozpin announced the teams, he was also announcing the team names and leaders. That had the entire, and I do mean _entire_ auditorium, in chatter. Once everyone was silent, he continued.

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrah Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren. From this day forward, you will be know as Team JNPR, lead by Jaune Arc. Congratulations young man." Ozpin concluded, as the newly formed team celebrated and walked off the stage.

"Charles Mercury, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna. From this day forward, you will be known as Team CRWN, lead by..."

The four hunters stood in silence and anticipation as they awaited who would be leading the newly formed Team CRWN, Ozpin knew what he was seeing and waited a bit longer secretly enjoying the suspense it was putting on the four in front of him

"Charles Mercury. Congratulations young man."

"Wait, what? Me? A Leader? Sir, I believe your making a mistake." Charlie walked up

"I've made more mistakes than any creature, living or dead. I don't believe this is one of them. I see the determination in you and your abilities. You'll do great things, I'm sure." Ozpin finished, placing a hand on Charlie shoulder as he stood there in awe.

Hours after the ceremony had finished, Charlie found himself sitting in the empty auditorium. Contemplating why Ozpin had chosen him over the other 3 members. He didn't feel as if he was worthy of such a title and position. What made him more qualified than Weiss or Blake or even Ruby? These were the questions with no answers. Leaving him to his thoughts, he never noticed the doors open or somebody sit next to him

"Hey, you busy?" Looking next to him, he noticed Blake holding a container with some food in it. Taking the container, he opened it and started eating the contents. Saying his thanks and continuing, Blake spoke up after several moments of silence.

"So why don't you think you deserving of being leader? You must of done exceedingly well in the initiation to impress Ozpin. You should consider yourself lucky." Blake nudged his side causing the new leader to stop eating and look at the stage forlorn, a look that didn't go unnoticed by the girl sitting next to him.

"I believe in you. Even if you don't, as your partner, I'll have your back." Blake said, wanting to put a comforting hand on her partner's back but deciding against it.

"Hey if you don't mind me asking, what's under the bow? It's been lowkey bugging me all day. If you don't want to it oka-" Charlie was cut off by Blake putting her hand up

"If you really want to know, then I suppose I can show you." Blake carefully put her hands on the bow, unraveling the fabric. The reaction of her partner almost made her run, but when she noticed the wonder in his eyes she stayed.

A pair of black cat ears sat atop her raven hair girl's head. It took a few seconds for Charlie to break the silence, complete flooring Blake with a simple question.

"So, you're a Faunas?"

"Yes. I've been ashamed of it since I was a child. People were always teasing and making cruel and racist jokes. So I hid them, and never showed them to anyone. Your the first person I've showed my ears to in a long while, but can we keep this from Ruby and Weiss? For now at least?" Blake asked, shaking slightly from the revelation.

"Well while I can't speak for Weiss's reaction, I can tell you Ruby wouldn't care. She'd treat you the same way she did before. We should go before they start to wonder where we went off to." Charlie said before Blake got up and they walked to their dorm room. Upon entering the room, the new leader noticed Ruby and Weiss arguing about something (or rather Weiss yelling at Ruby for one thing or another).

Rolling his eyes, telling himself he'd deal with that in the morning. He went to lay down in his bed, and pulled his jacket over his body to try and warm himself. Drifting off to sleep soon after, he felt his blankets shift as they were laid over him. Stirring slightly, falling back asleep soon after. Blake stood over her partner's bed and shaking her head, wondering how he managed to not get sick constantly. She walked over to her own bed, before falling asleep herself.

This was going to be a new experience for the entire team, especially Blake. She came out as a Faunas to her partner, someone she's barely known for handful of day yet she felt so _comfortable_ around the man in black. There was just something about him, but she couldn't pin what it was. She was so deep in her own thoughts that she barely noticed the door creak open. Sneaking up to the door and scanning the rest of the room, she noticed that Charlie was nowhere to be found. While following her partner, she noticed a folder under his arm and a strange case in his other hand. Following him out to a nearby balcony, he put the case down and opened it to reveal a flute inside. Putting the instrument together and preparing his sheet music, he started playing what could best be described as the most soothing melody on Remnant. Looking closer at the sheet music, she noticed the sheet read _Oración._ Oración? What could that mean.

Noticing that Charlie has finished the song he was playing and getting ready to leave, Blake snuck back to the dorm room before her partner arrived. Getting back into bed, he quietly snuck back into the room before he checked to see if his teammates were still asleep. Seeing that everyone was still sleeping, or at least looking like they were sleeping, he himself laid back down as he fell asleep. Blake sat up, looking at her partner wondering where he learned to play like that. A question for another day, she finally laid down and slept.


	3. A Day Out

**Hey guys, I'm back and coming at 'cha with a new chapter! This has been an amazing experience and I can't thank you enough. Keep coming with those reviews and if you have any ideas for the story, please feel free to PM me with any ideas or concerns and I'll do what I can to address those.**

 **As always, keep it chill! Enjoy the double update!**

 **-Charlie Mercury**

The classes the first couple of weeks after teams being formed went as well as they could, teachers going over syllabuses and starting projects. It was a slow endeavor, sure, but necessary. One thing the dark clad leader noticed was when the team had down time, they all did their own thing never bothering to interact with the other teammates. Sure Blake and he would go and read in the library and he and Ruby would play video games and watch TV together, but Weiss was decidedly alone and isolated from the rest of CRWN and he decided that when the weekend came that he would do something about it.

"Thanks for coming today, team. There's something I've noticed these past few weeks and that's a lack of togetherness within our team. So I've decided that this weekend, we're going out to Vale and doing some bonding with our partners." Charlie started with the rest of CRWN sat in front of him.

"Why would do that? We should be studying for the test we have in our classes, not galavanting in the city" Weiss started, getting up to go back to her desk

"I've already got that taken care of. I talked to Ozpin about this and he agrees that we have the potential to be the greatest team in Beacon, but we're lacking cohesion. He's allowed us to take an extended weekend to work on it and we'll be back at it on Tuesday. So, if you want to get this over I suggest you sit down and let me finish then we can begin." Charlie finished, motioning for Weiss to take her seat.

Weiss simply huffed and sat down next to Ruby, which made the leader slightly smile to himself.

"Great! So the way this works is that I'll flip this coin. Whoever calls it right gets to decide what their pair does first and then the other person decides what to do. Two rules: 1)It cannot have _anything_ to do with school. So, no weapons, no grimm, no studying. 2) It can't be anywhere in the school, you have to go out into the city. We'll have a team study session when we come back Monday to prepare. Are we all in agreement?" CRWN's leader finished with nods from the other members

"Okay, Blake. Heads or Tails?" Charle asked holding a coin

"Heads." Blake stated simply

Flipping the coin, it hit the desk with a metallic clink. When it finished moving, Charlie looked down at the coin and looked at Blake.

"Congrats. You get first pick. Ruby. Weiss. Heads or Tails?" he turned his attention to the white and red partners.

"Tails" Ruby piped up

"Heads" Weiss said a split second after Ruby spoke.

Flipping the coin on the desk, and looking at the coin as it finished falling through the air. With a look of amusement, he turned back to the partners.

"Ruby! You get first pick! Okay then, take the rest of tonight to do your planning and we'll go out tomorrow night. Oh Weiss, can I talk to you out in the hall? This is really important." Charlie said as he turned to the door and opened it allowing Weiss to walk through first.

"What's this about?" Weiss asked as they walked a bit down the hall.

"Ruby. When you guys go out, I want you to keep an open mind. I've been noticing a few things about you two, and she acts around you in a different way then the rest of us especially me. She looks up to you because of your skill and your demeanor. She wants to be friends with you, she really does. So please, when you guys go out I want you to enjoy the time you have. Just some food for thought." Charlie said as he walked down the hall

"Wait." Weiss said as Charlie stopped

"She really wants me to be her friend?" Weiss asked with a look of disbelief

"Yeah. Got some free time? Theres more to this story than you believe." Charlie asked getting a simple nod from the white heiress.

"Good, come with me." the two walked off towards the cafeteria.

As the two sat down, Charlie decided to cut right to the point.

"Rubes has been bullied her entire school life, even when we were back in Signal. When her mother, Summer, passed away and she caught wind of it, she shut herself away from the rest of us. The kids would pick on her about her fascination with weapons and… other things." Charlie trailed off, looking down and off to the side.

"Things like?" Weiss asked, genuine concern leaking into her voice.

"She hasn't come out to many people about this, really only me and our parents. Ruby's a lesbian, and I think she's falling for you. She won't admit it easily, and most certainly not to you. She fears that if she does confess to you, you'll be disgusted with her and never talk to her again. Now, I can't vouch for the validity of that. That's for you to tell me. I've noticed that you sneak a few glances when she doesn't notice and I'd bet that you feel the same way for her the same way. Stop me if I'm wrong." Charlie wrapped up his summary.

"No… you got it pretty close. It's just… she's so carefree. She can light up an entire room just by being there. She won't stop until she knows that the other person is feeling better." Weiss added.

"So. What do you plan to do with this?" Charlie asked.

"I'm going to try to win over your sister." Weiss said definitely.

"Good. I support you all the way. If you have any questions feel free to ask." Charlie got up and started walking away.

"Wait." Weiss said before he got to far away.

"Dust, Weiss. Start asking question before I leave" Charlie said.

"Quit walking away before I have to chance to ask." Weiss quipped.

"Jeez, no need to be so _Weiss_ cold with me. What did you want to know?" Charlie asked, smiling from his pun.

"What does Ruby like to do? For fun I mean?" Weiss asked.

The man in black had to think about it for a bit, then a proverbial lightbulb lit and he turned back to Weiss and said.

"Well, here are a few ideas..."

 **Vale – The Next Morning**

When Team CRWN arrived in the city, the two pair branched off to do their team bonding. Blake had the first pick as to what they would do, so Charlie just let her do the leading. It was refreshing to not be the one leading the charge, instead just falling back and taking in the sights of the city. Blake led them down a street way through a farmers market and they were looking at all the produce.

"So quick question. When are we gonna tell them." Charlie asked.

"Tell them what?" Blake asked, a quick glance from Charlie to her bow was all she needed to know.

"I don't know… How do we know they won't hate me for hiding this?" Blake asked.

"I told you, Ruby won't care. I talked to Weiss for an extended period of time and she seems like she'll understand. You can't keep them in the dark forever, if you need help explaining it I will. I want us to be a united team. Hiding this will only make the divide greater. How about we tell them tonight?" Charlie said

"O-okay. I trust you. Let's do it." Blake relented

"Great. I have a good feeling about this and OH SWEET OUM WHAT'S THAT?!" Charlie's attention lapsed for a mere second and he bolted off to a nearby store window

When he got to the window he found a black jacket with white embroidering on the back of it. The jacket was really nice, and he wanted one. Only problem was the price tag, being far out of his budget. Crushed on the inside, he trudged back to Blake and trailed behind.

"Okay, what's wrong. You bolted off with a sparkle in your eye and came back looking _completely_ disappointed. So what's wrong?" Blake asked again, wanting to know what soured her partner's attitude.

"I just found this jacket I liked, but it was too expensive. It's nothing really." Charlie said quickly

"Anyway, why don't you go find something for us to do. I just have to look for a few things." Blake said, waving off her leader before he could say something.

When she saw her leader far enough away, she hurried off to the store window where the jacket was, and looked it over to get the measurements. She then pulled out her scroll to call the one person who she knew could help.

 _Hello?_ The voice replied

"Hey Mom. I need a favor." Blake said

 _Oh, Blake it's so good to hear from you again. What did you need sweetie?_ Blake's mother responded

Blake smiled and thought about if she should go through with it. Then the idea came to her:

"Do you know anyone who can make a custom jacket?"

When she was done talking to her mother, she rejoined Charlie who ended up at a local arcade. Video games weren't exactly her thing, but she was willing to give it a try when she saw how happy it made the man in black. Trying a few games turned into almost the entire day, and when the sun set Charlie nudged Blake's side and pointed out the window.

"It's getting late, we should probably head back now. Don't want to make Ruby and Weiss worry." Charlie noted as they left the building.

"Hey why don't you go on ahead and save me a seat. I gotta make a quick call." Charlie said as he sent Blake off to the airship.

Quickly pulling out his scroll, he called the one person who he knew could he him out

 _Weiss Schnee_. The voice on the other end said as the call was connected

"Hey Weiss, I need a favor. Can you help me out?" Charlie asked as he scanned to make sure Blake was out of earshot

 _Sure, what do you need help with?_ Weiss asked from the other end as he could hear Ruby asking who she was talking to

"Do you know anyone who can make a custom jacket? I need one made." Charlie asked

 _I'll see what I can do. Whose's it for?_ Weiss asked

"It's for Blake. Do you know anyone that can help?" Charlie asked again

 _Of course I do. You forget who you're talking to. I can get it done._ Weiss said

"Thanks Weiss, I owe you for this." Charlie said before he hung up.

Running off to meet up with Blake, they both boarded the ship and found their seats.

"So was this a good idea or what?" Charlie asked as he turned to his partner.

"I suppose it wasn't a bad idea. How do you think Ruby and Weiss did?" Blake asked as the ship took off.

"Knowing Ruby, we'll hear about it when we get back. Prepare for an ear full."

 **Team CRWN dorm – Later that Evening**

When Charlie and Blake walked back through the door, Ruby ran up to her older brother and told him all about the day she and Weiss had. Sitting there and nodding, shooting Weiss a knowing look every time she did something nice for Ruby. After Ruby had finished her recap, Charlie stood up and walked over to the front of the room.

"Team, there's something I need to tell you and by _me_ I mean Blake has something to tell you." Charlie sat down as Blake stood where her leader once was.

"So what did you have to tell us, Blake?" Weiss asked as she sat on her bed.

"Yeah Blake, what's up?" Ruby asked as she sat next to Weiss, sharing a confused look with her partner.

"There's something I've been hiding from you two. Rather than tell you, I'll let the sight do the talking for me." Blake said as she led her hands to the bow on her head and took it off, letting the piece of fabric fall to the floor. Weiss and Ruby couldn't help but look in awe as they saw two black cat ears coming out of the head of their teammate.

"So… you're a Faunas?" Weiss asked in shock.

"Y-yes. I'm so sorry for keeping this from you. I didn't want you to think of me any different. I hope you both can forgive me." Blake said with her head down, ears flattened against her head.

"Why would we think of you any different? Your still the Blake we've always know, just with a new character trait. We don't think of you any different. Right Weiss?" Ruby turned and asked her partner who simply nodded in agreement.

"Thank you..." was all Blake could say before the tears started falling. The rest of CRWN crowded around Blake and embraced their Faunas teammate.

"Okay, I'm going to go hit the showers then hit the hay. I suggest you guys to the same." Charlie said as he went to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Ruby and Weiss were talking about how their day went and how much fun it was. All Blake could hear was a melody coming from the shower as Charlie sung in the shower.

 _Man he really can sing_ Blake thought to herself as she fell asleep.

 **Author's note: Sorry I didn't want to add this at the end of the chapter, but I need to make this own. This is my first time writing a long form story, so it's not going to be perfect. I don't mind you guys leaving reviews, and keep those coming, but remember that when you do. Also I picked Crown for the team name because I couldn't find a color that ha and B in it. So I picked CRWN dud to a lack of options. At least Crown can remind you of a color so I still followed the color rule, just not the way Rooster Teeth did it when they were conceptualizing the show. Sorry if the name bothers you but I couldn't think of anything. Anyway I'll leave it at that. Stay chill!**

 **P.S: I apologize for confusing Summer and Raven in the summary. I fixed it now and I hope that I can improve at this whole writing thing. See ya next time!**

 **-Charlie**


	4. A Plan Set In Motion

After CRWN's excursion into Vale and the rigorous studying they had to endure (thanks Weiss), many sights were changing around them. The weather was becoming colder, the leaves were changing colors, and leaves were falling from their branches as summer turned to fall. At this time of the year, many students were talking about the upcoming school dance. Finding dates, making plans, and other things of the sort. While the other students were making their plans however, two students were devising a plan. One that would change the very foundation of their team (hopefully for the best).

"So, have we made any progress yet?" Charlie whispered to Weiss as they sat in the library, away from the other students. The plan they were devising, or at least attempting to, was for CRWN's little redhead to fall for the snow white heiress. They knew that Weiss had feelings for Ruby, but weren't sure if they were reciprocated.

"No, none yet. Oh sweet Oum, this is impossible. We're never going to make this work." Weiss said dejectedly.

"Well have you tried to just come out with it? Seems like the simple thing to do." the leader in black spoke bluntly.

"Well why don't you ask her? You are her brother after all." Weiss responded, hoping to get out of having to confess to the youngest member of their team.

"Well, I could but it's not my place to do that." Charlie spoke as he contemplated who they could use to weasel the information out of Ruby. Who to choose? Team JNPR? No, we've hardly talked to them since we started. We should probably fix that. He certainly wasn't going to try, and he knew all to well that Weiss wouldn't either (although that would put a damper on their whole plan). Then the lightbulb shined again when the simplest answer came to mind.

"Blake!"

Weiss jumped when her leader yelled out of nowhere, then scolded him for shouting in the library. He shrugged it off, standing up to run to his partner to ask the odd favor. When he reached the courtyard, he found the exact person he was looking for. She sat under a tree off to the side, wearing a white and black flannel and a hat to cover up her ears. When he strode up to the Faunus she looked up from her book ,which was in and of itself a rare occurrence and only one the leader of CRWN could achieve.

"Blake, I need you to do me a favor." Charlie simply put.

Looking up in sheer befuddlement, she closed her book and addressed her team captain.

"And what, pray tell, is this favor?" Blake asked.

"I need you to ask Ruby if she interested in anybody. You know, in _that_ way." Charlie spoke, emphasizing exactly what he meant.

"Okay, how about this. You go and try to and if _that_ doesn't work, then come back to me. Your her big brother, she should be open to telling you." Blake said before going back to her book.

Knowing that she was right, CRWN's leader had to now devise how he was going to go about asking his younger sister about a potential crush. She had dated a little bit in Signal but nothing too major. Simple flings as they were. So with the thought of Ruby having a substantial crush on their teammate was enough for the man in black to take action. He knew this wouldn't be easy, but hell nothing was. It's only as easy as you approach it.

On the walk to their team dorms, Charlie felt like he was being watched or rather followed. He couldn't peg who or what it could be. Halfway to the dorms, he knew something was up. Remember his semblances? Well if there was one thing he knew, Advent was never wrong. Advent acted as another sense to the aid the leader. With an icy blue color change to his eyes, and a swift clutch of Omen, he turned around to something he wasn't expecting.

Or rather… someone.

On the other side of the courtyard, he saw a girl leaning against the tree. She wasn't in any uniform so she wasn't a student. Her blonde hair was tangled and matted as if she never heard of a hairbrush. Her eyes were a fiery red, a stark contrast to Charlie's icy blue gaze. Her face was concealed by a mask. She had two rusty gauntlets attached to her wrist. When she finally spoke, she didn't mince words.

"You're Charles Mercury right?"

"Well now that depends, who's asking?" the raven haired leader spoke, his hand never leaving Omen.

"You're reckoning..." The blonde said before lunging at the leader with her rusty gauntlets.

The leader had a few seconds to react, and he used the short span he had to land a heel kick on the blonde assailant. Reeling, the girl responded with a few well placed punches before landing a kick of her own. The sound of gunshot rang out through out the courtyard as they fought, catching the attention of nearby students.

"What are you doing?! Get out of the way!" The leader exclaimed, causing the students to run and disperse.

Looking back to blonde, he was greeted by a foot launching straight into his chest which sent him crashing into a nearby pillar. Wrapping around the stone structure before hitting the ground with a thud, he looked up to see the blonde assailant walking up to him with a rusty dagger in hand. She was intent on ending the leader of Team CRWN. She very well could have, if it weren't for the black ribbon being wrapped around the dagger and it being thrown aside.

Wait, a black ribbon?

Looking up, he leader noticed his partner, standing above him. Gambol Shroud on full display. She looked like a warrior from his position, standing over the weakened leader like the savior she was at least at this moment.

"Look, I don't know who you are or why you're here… but I'm going to ask you to leave my team alone." the raven haired Faunus said, her amber eyes drilling holes into the mystery woman.

"You think this is over? Well, I'll tell you now it's not and it never will be. Not until that bastard has paid for his sins. You know what you did..." The mystery blonde said before leaping into the trees and dashing off.

"Wait! Get back here!" Blake shouted after the blonde.

"Blake, stop. It's not worth it." Charlie said as he tried getting up, only to collapse down to the stone floor beneath him.

"Charlie! You need to get to the infirmary now!" Blake said before noticing the gash in his forehead from the fight he just had.

"And you're bleeding! Oh dust, what am I going to do with you..." Blake said before she helped up her team leader to help him to the infirmary, sending both of the bother members a message telling them to meet them there as soon as possible.

 **B** **eacon Academy infirmary – Early Afternoon**

When the raven haired partners arrived, Charlie was taken in for examination while Ozpin asked him a few question about how this even happened. They were simple enough to answer, and he told Ozpin all he knew. Sure, it wasn't much but it was all he could remember. After Ozpin left, he told the leader of CRWN that he would let him know if any information surfaced. Taking his leave, that left Charlie and his teammates to wonder what happened. Taking the opportunity, he asked both Weiss and Blake to go grab some food. When the monochrome duo left, this left the two siblings alone. With this, he took the time he'd been given to ask the important question.

"Hey Ruby, I have an important question and I need you to answer honestly." Charlie said

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" Ruby's tone was one of apprehension, not sure what was going to be asked of her.

"Is there anyone that you like? Anyone that makes your heart skip a beat? Someone you love?" the older brother asked as he sat up.

Looking away, the younger redhead's face turned a red that rivaled both her namesake and her cloak. Looking up at her older brother, he had a look of absolute seriousness. It wasn't a look adorned by the man very often, but when it was there he was being serious. Dead serious.

"I'm not going to tease you, Rubes. I genuinely want to know. If there's anyone out there, I want to kno-"

"It's Weiss!"

A moment of silence came over the room, only broken by the small chuckle let out my the team leader.

"I had a feeling you'd say that." Charlie spoke after awhile.

"What do you mean?" the younger redhead said.

Pointing to the door, Ruby turned around to see Weiss and Blake, the former with tears brimming her eyes.

"Why don't you two go back to the room and talk. You two seem to need it now. We'll be back once they get back with the test results." the leader said as he waved the white-rose pair off.

 _There, that should solve Weiss's problem. Now what about the other one._ Charlie's thoughts were cut off abruptly when Blake grabbed the team leader in a hug. Nothing to tight, but close enough that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

When the hug was ended, Charlie noticed Blake was silently crying into his shoulder. Well that won't do.

"What's with the tears? I'm still here and in one piece." Charlie said before Blake cut him off.

"You shouldn't have fought her. You don't know what she's capable of. It could have gone a lot worse if I didn't intervene. How would Ruby feel if she learned that her older brother was killed by some lunatic? You can't always fight by yourself. You have a team for a reason." she turned to grab the food they grabbed and gave him a styrofoam container.

"You really do know the way to my heart." Charlie quipped.

"Through your stomach?" Blake responded coyly.

"Exactly." Charlie spoke bluntly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

After a while, Charlie was discharged from the infirmary and the two black hunters strolled back to the dorms. The injuries to the hunter were minimal, garnering a mild concussion and fractured ribs that would keep him out of classes for the next couple weeks. Sure it sucked, but Blake was fortunate that all he sustained were a few minor injuries. If they were any worse, it would be a bad time for the man in black.

When the two arrived back their dorm, they opened the door to see the white-rose pair asleep in the heiress's bed. Looking on and pulling out his scroll, the older brother went to snapping pictures of the sleeping couple.

"Oh, she's _never_ going to live this down! This is _golden_!" The man in black laughed hysterically as he continued.

"Alright, that's enough. Let the two sleep." the Faunus spoke calmly as she led the leader to his bed,

"It's okay Blake, I can manage myself just fine." he said as he tried to climb up to his bunk, only to get lightheaded as he tried to make the ascent.

"Nope, okay. You're not going up their tonight." Blake said as she dragged the leader off the top bunk.

"Well okay then, madam, where do you expect me to sleep?" Charlie asked as Blake simply pointed to the bottom bunk.

"You're kidding right? You can't be serious, right?" Charlie deadpanned.

"Charles Alexander, bed. Now." Blake spoke with a tone she almost never used. She only used it when she was being deadly serious or seriously pissed. It was hard to tell which it was at the moment, but it didn't matter when the leader took off his jacket and put on a blue tank top with a logo on the front and some writing on the back. When the black haired huntsman finally laid down, Blake joined him as she read while the man next to her drifted off to sleep.

 **The Next Morning**

Despite being told he couldn't participate in classes due to his injuries, Charlie still wanted something to do. Watching anime and old wrestling pay-per-views could only get him so far before he grew bored. With this, he walked his way to Ozpin's office and knocked on the door. Knowing the dance was coming up in a few weeks, he asked how to planning was going.

"Just dreadful, the entertainment we hired had to cancel now we're scrambling to find a replacement." Ozpin spoke as he shifted through papers on his desk. An idea spawned in the head of Charlie and he asked a simple question.

"You need a replacement? I'll do it. As long as I can get credit for the classes I missed. Do we have a deal, Headmaster?" Charlie extended his hand to which Ozpin agreed and sent the huntsman on his way. Coming back into the empty room, he sat at his desk and started thinking of ideas. He knew he was a good singer, but he needed more people to play instruments. So he started making calls and arranging people.

"Why didn't I think of this before? I'm a bloody genius!" the black haired huntsman said before he started laughing. This was a good idea, now all he needed to do was execute his new plan.

 **A/N: Okay so quick question. Would you guys like to see a story like CRWN but with the entire Team RWBY? Let me know in the reviews, I really want to know. I'd like to write it if that's what you guys would like.**


	5. A Night to Remember

When Blake noticed her partner was sitting at his desk scribbling on a sheet of paper with a guitar in his lap, she couldn't help but be completely intrigued. What was even more intriguing was how quiet the black huntsman was about it. Typically, he told her about every project he was working. Not this time. She did the one thing she was really good at: getting answers.

"What are you working on?" Blake asked.

"Ozpin needed someone to play at the dance, so I volunteered to since I can't go to classes." Charlie spoke before going back to his paper.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You just got out of the med bay, you're sure this won't make it worse?" Blake asked, a trickle of concern leaking into her tone.

This hadn't gone unnoticed by the leader for a while now, being more out in the open when he ran into the blonde psychopath (at least that's what Blake called her). He had his suspicions that Blake could be falling for him, but he immediately dismissed those thoughts. There was no way she could fall for him, she could do way better than the black clad leader. Although, there were moments where he caught her stealing glances his way.

Like the time JNPR invited him out for a night out when he was discharged. They felt bad for the natural fighter, not being able to do the one thing he was good at. When he asked what they were doing, the blonde leader told him they were going out to a karaoke bar.

 **The Previous Day – Vale**

The Black Cat was one of the most renounced establishments in Vale. Not too high class, but not too slummy either. The black clad leader of CRWN was wearing his standard black shirt, this one reading something out of the ordinary. A white crosshair on the front of the shirt with three words on the back.

 _Redesign_

 _Rebuild_

 _Reclaim_

Over the black shirt was a sleeveless green vest with a black hood. Faded black jeans and a pair of sneakers finished the outfit and he felt so out of place here it wasn't funny. They were out with a team that they knew, sure, but they didn't really know who JNPR were but hopefully that was going to change.

Blake was wearing something along the lines of what Charlie was wearing; a black tank top, A white jacket, faded black jeans, and a pair of black heels. Something that Charlie noticed was the tank top she wore had a very familiar design on it. Looking closer, he noticed exactly what it read.

 _BÁLOR CLUB: now and fOreVER_

It was the same design he wore when he arrived at Beacon. When he asked about it, she simply shrugged it off and said that she liked the design. No more, no less.

 _Yeah, that's a load of crap._ The leader thought, but he knew there was no convincing her to admit otherwise, so he let it go.

Jaune Arc was the leader of JNPR, with blonde shaggy hair not unlike the leader of CRWN, a sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. He was sure that they shared the same sentiment when it came to their gear. Who needed fancy combat gear when street clothes worked just as well.

Pyrrah Nikos was the blonde's partner and _clearly_ the more experienced fighter, she was a renounced fighter in her home kingdom after all. Sure she'd been training the blonde, and he had been making progress (at least according to the redhead) but Charlie felt that something was missing. Maybe he'd have to have a crack at training him. Maybe at a different time.

Nora Valkyrie was… different. She was the loud member of JNPR, kinda like Ruby but several times worse. Like if you gave Ruby 5 boxes of cookies and then an energy drink, that was Nora. But like how Weiss was Ruby's balance, Nora had one too.

Lie Ren. A very calm and collected individual. Seemed to be the one who'd rather keep a fight from happening than start one. Something that Charlie could get behind.

When the team plus one arrived at the bar, they each showed their student id which allowed them to get into the bar. It was a nice place, a large stage up front and plenty of seats to fit the five huntsmen in training. When the songs started playing, each of them were deciding whether or not they's be getting on stage.

"Why don't you go on stage?" Pyrrah asked the man in black.

"I don't think I'm good enough to be in front of that many people." Charlie shrugged off the suggestion.

"I think that's a load of crap. From what Ruby and Weiss have told us, you're better than you give yourself credit for." Jaune spoke bluntly, which surprised the black laced leader.

He never took Arc to be the blunt type, and it was refreshing. It wasn't often that he was surprised in such a fashion and he knew that this would end well. He was going to relent, if it wasn't for a head of orange hair, running up and grabbing a mic.

"Hey guys! We have a dude in here who doesn't think he's good enough to sing on stage! Let's get his ass in gear!" Nora shouted as she got the crown chanting for the man in black.

 _Mer-cur-y!_

 _Mer-cur-y!_

 _Mer-cur-y!_

What was even more shocking was that she even got JNPR and her own partner to join in. Having enough, he stood up to a roar of cheers and applause. Turning to the party he was with, all giving thumbs up and laughing.

"Y'all suck. You know that?" he stated more than asked

"You wound me." Blake, taking a page out of the leader's book, responded sarcastically.

"Okay, that's _my_ line. Fine, fine I'm going! You all are singing later!" The leader said as he left laughing.

When he made it to the front of the stage, he opening the book and scrolled through it to find a song he knew. There were many options, nut which to choose? The leader thought to himself as he picked

 _Paid In Exposure? No, not feeling it_

 _Danny Don't You Know? No, not feeling this either_

 _We Are Ignited? No, too emotional_

 _Ah here we go!_

"So what will it be, bro?" the attendant asked Charlie's

"This one right here." the leader said as he pointed to a song

"Ah good choice. Have a great time." the attendant said as he queued up the song

"Ladies and Gentleman, we have a treat for you here tonight! Here we have Charlie Mercury, singing 'Death of a Bachelor' by Nathan Sharp. Knock 'em dead kid." the attendant said before the song started.

A favorite cover of his, he obviously knew this like the back of his hand. A slow song that (in a way) encapsulated his feelings in the moment. Sure he was a capable fighter, but when he was dispatched by this mystery woman in such short order it left a bitter taste in his mouth. The concern Blake had for his safety and wellbeing was far from hidden. No! No. It's nothing. That's just normal. It'd be the same thing if it were Ruby. Putting those thoughts in the deepest part of his head, he signaled to the band behind him to begin playing.

"Do I look lonely? I see the shadows on my face. People have told me I don't look the same..." the emotion that he was putting into his song this early in left Blake and JNPR amazed, the former especially. She had heard him sing before, but seeing all the little things he put into his performance put it all together. His facial expressions, the little movements, hand gestures, everything.

"Maybe I lost weight… I'm playing hooky, with the best of the best. Put my heart of my chest so that you can see it too. I'm walking the long road… watching the say fall. The lace in your dress tingles my neck. How do I live? The death of a bachelor! O-o-oh! Letting the water fall! The death of a bachelor, o-o-oh! Seems so fitting for, happily ever after, whooo. How could I ask for more? A lifetime of laughter, at the expense of the death of a bachelor..." Charlie wasn't missing a beat, belting out this song like it was no-one's business. As the song reached its end, JNPR erupted in applause followed by the rest of the crowd. Stepping off the stage, he approached his table and was rushed by his partner and JNPR.

"That was _amazing_! Where'd you learn to sing like that?" Nora asked excitedly.

"Yeah, that was fantastic. Some would say-" Jaune spoke Ren cut in

"Phenomenal."

"Thanks guys. What about you Blake? What did you think?" the raven haired male asked.

Blake said nothing, being unable to find the words needed to describe the experience.

"I'll take that as a good review. Okay, now the rest of you need to keep your word. Get up there." Charlie pointed to the stage.

No sooner than the last word been spoken, Nora grabbed Ren by the arm and dragged him up to the front of the stage. Poor guy, how does he stay so calm around Nora? It seems like she'd drive anyone else mad, but he seems to take it all in stride. He'd have to ask him about it later.

The rest of the night went as smooth as it could. Nora and Ren sang a duet that no one saw coming, whatever Pyrrah and Jaune sang had the crowd clapping along to the beat, and Blake sang a surprisingly mellow and somber song. He barely remembered the song title, " _All That Matters_ ". Quickly scribbling down the song title on a napkin at the table, he shoved the quick note in his pocket just as Blake came back. Instead of sitting down like the rest of them said, she ran out the door. Looking confused, Charlie looked to JNPR with Jaune pointing to the door with a look he hadn't seen on the blonde leader. Giving a simple nod, he grabbed his scroll off the table and ran after his partner.

Instead of finding his partner anywhere, he found a note stuck to the side of the building. Looking closer, it wasn't his partner's handwriting. It wasn't even Ruby or Weiss' writing. It look mangled and scrawled on the sheet. Plucking it from it's location and reading it with a look of determination, he shoved it away and ran off towards Beacon. He knew what he had to do, and this time he was ready.

 _I know what you did_

 _I know who you truly are_

 _Meet in the forest and make sure you come alone_

 _Whoever comes with you meets an untimely demise_

 _You have 3 days_

 _See you soon, Phantom_

 _-N_


	6. A New Foe

**The Next Morning**

"Ruby! Weiss! Blake! We have a problem!" Charlie burst through the door.

"And what seems to be the problem?" Blake asked.

"This! I found this the night that we went out with JNPR. Someone's picking a fight, and I know that someone wants my head." Charlie said, slamming the note on the desk. The rest of CRWN had never seen their leader this irate. Well, Ruby had but that's a story for a different time. He held an aura of pure rage under his breath. It wasn't a good look on anyone, especially not the leader of CRWN.

"So what's with this 'Phantom' moniker this N fellow gave you?" Weiss asked, reading over the note.

"It's better to show you than explain..." Charlie spoke before he backed towards the door. His eyes turned from brown to a smoking gray, he walked through the closed door leaving a trail of vapor behind him.

Weiss and Blake's immediate reaction was one of horror, while Ruby maintained her average demeanor. Stepping back through the door, he sat down in a chair on the other side of the room. Turning back from gray to brown, he turned to look at his teams expression.

"Y-you should see the looks on your f-f-faces. Now _this_ is golden!" Charlie laughed as he almost fell out of his chair.

After regaining her composure, Blake stepped up and raised her hand and smack the phantom of CRWN.

Or at least she attempted to, before her had simply phased through the man in the chair which garnering more uncontrollable laughter, from both her leader and her sister.

"That won't work, ya know. He can keep this up all day. Now back on topic, who's N and why are they after you?" Ruby asked, turning to the man in black.

"If I had any clue, I'd tell you. We need to talk to deal with this. Whoever's behind this, they won't stop until I'm six feet under. Any ideas?" Charlie turned to ask his team.

"I'd say we'd need to figure out who is orchestrating this. Whoever this is, they seem determined. What do you say Blake?" Weiss asked to the black cat of CRWN.

Or she attempted to, noticing Blake's conspicuous absence along with her combat gear and Gambol Shroud. Connecting the dots rather quickly, Charlie ran to grab his gear.

"Grab your weapons! We need to stop Blake!" Charlie commanded

"You can't go! You haven't completely healed yet! Use some common sense, damnit!" Weiss said

"That might be true, but that doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we keep Blake in one piece. Who knows what we're dealing with! Ruby! let's go!" CRWN's Phantom said as he ran out the door.

 **The Emerald Forest – Afternoon**

Blake leapt through the trees of the Emerald Forest with a mission in mind. Her mission (or at least what she deemed her mission) was to neutralize this new threat, and she would be damned if anyone or any _thing_ would stop her. Finding her destination, she ran to a halt and noticed a man standing in the clearing. Someone's standing in her way, and that just won't do.

"Well, well. You weren't who I was expecting?" the man spoke. The grave tone in his voice sent shivers down the Faunus's spine.

He wore a reddish-brown leather jacket with a grey shirt underneath. The black cargo pants he wore were riddled with different pockets and straps. His hair was as dark as night, and his eyes glowed with a fire-like yellow and red.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" The man spoke. "Well, doesn't matter. You're not who I'm looking for, so I've got no business here." he waved off Blake as he walked the other direction.

"Like hell you are!" Blake shouted as she slung Gambol at her opponent.

Catching the blade, without turning, he stabbed it in the ground.

"Fine… be that way..." The man spoke again, turning around to face Blake.

As if by cue the light from the forest dimmed leaving behind a dusk-like tone to the area. His yellow-orange eyes glowing in the darkness. He rushed Blake, throwing lefts and rights in a style very similar style. Blake doing her best to guard and retaliate, but simply couldn't keep up with the savage in front of her.

"Just who are you? Are you with that blonde psycho?" Blake demanded.

"Shut up! Keep her name out of your mouth! She's got a name ya know?" The man spat with as much venom as a spider.

"Which is?" she asked

"Eh. Not important." the man spoke as he landed a hard kick to Blake's midsection which sent her crashing into a nearby tree.

"When what's yours?" Blake asked again, trying to catch a second wind.

Holding up his hand, a small fireball lit up his palm. With the more aura he channeled, the bigger the fireball grew. Not wanting to exhaust all his aura, he kept it at a medium size. It glowed a menacing bright yellow, dimly illuminating the forest.

"You can call me Ryuu, not that it'll matter. Say goodnight!" the man called Ryuu growled as he hurled the fireball. Whistling through the air, Blake tried to block against the incoming fireball.

 _BOOM!_

Ryuu looked on in unbridled glee, laughing manically, thinking that he finished off the intruder. Turning to walk deeper into the forest, awaiting the person he was waiting for. That was, until he heard a new voice.

Blake looked up, expecting to be fried. Her eyes opened wide when she saw what (or rather _who_ ) protected her. A shred of black fabric fell to the ground right in front of Blake, and in front of her was CRWN's Phantom. His name was Charlie Mercury.

"You know, I really liked that jacket. I really did." Charlie said as he unlatched Omen and took of his jacket. A light blue tank top was underneath as the singed jacket laid on the ground.

"Ah, _HA_! Well if it isn't the man of the hour! Finally decided to show your face, but if I remember correctly you were told to come alone." Ryuu spoke gravely, leaving the man in black unfazed.

"And you were dumb to believe I'd actually follow those directions. Those little fireballs don't scare me. I've fought a lot worse than you. Sorry, I never got your name" Charlie spoke as he held Omen in a fighting stance.

"Call me your reckoning, or Ryuu Nur whatever works for you." Ryuu shrugged as he assumed a boxing stance.

Charlie laughed darkly, as his eyes changed to an icy blue.

"heheh… brilliant. Now? Shall we?"

"Yeah, I won't stop until your heads on a platter." Ryuu said.

"Let me guess, I have sins to atone for?" Charlie spoke.

"See, you're not as dumb as you look." Ryuu said as he rushed the man he called Phantom.

Clashing swords with fists, CRWN's Phantom and this new foe went tooth and nail.

"Yeah, but i've got a few new tricks up my sleeve." Charlie said.

"Oh? And what's that?" Ryuu spoke.

 _OMEN, SCYTHE MODE!_

Turning the sword around, the handle of the sword rammed straight into Ryuu's gut. The blade curved and barely missed Charlie's stomach. Grabbing the extended handle and turning around, ramming the blunt end of the scythe into the black haired teen sending him across the field. Catching his footing, he skidded to a stop.

 _OMEN, HARBINGER MODE!_

With a simple voice command, Charlie's scythe turned back into a sword which was put by his partner.

"So? How I'm doing so far?" he asked his partner, who was just getting back on her feet.

"Better than before. You should do a better job- watch out!" Blake said as he pulled her partner to the side, just barely missing a fire ball.

"Here allow me to finish that. You should do a better job _keeping an eye on your opponent_! Ryuu said as he lunged towards, getting caught with a spinning heel kick from the raven haired huntress.

"And _you_ should do a better job multitasking. Seems you can't focus on more than one person at a time." Blake said as she readied Gambol Shroud.

"I'll make you eat those words, kitty. Let's see how many lives you really got." Ryuu lunged at Blake again, being intercepted by knee from the cat Faunus.

"Okay, let's see where this goes..." Charlie said as he leapt into a nearby tree, trying to get a better view of the melee going on beneath him.

Or at least that was his plan, until a fireball chased him out of the tree.

"You know what they say about playing with fire, right?" Charlie said as the tree ignited in flames.

"What's going on?!" Ruby shouted as her and Weiss finally entered the clearing.

"Ruby! Weiss! You're on fire control! We can't let this spread too far!" Charlie shouted as he retrieved Omen from the strap on his back.

"On it!" both of the arriving huntress's shouted in affirmation, rushing off to deal with the spreading wildfire.

"Now, where we're we?" Charlie's tone was as focused as he'd ever been before. He knew he had to wrap this up before he and Blake grew too exhausted. He could feel himself falling farther and farther behind as the fight went on.

"I believe I was kicking your ass, but hey what do I know?" Ryuu spoke as he kicked Blake away, inciting a riot of anger from his huntsmen opponent. This was exactly what he wanted, he wanted anger and for mistakes to be made.

"I'll make you regret doing that. I'll make you even regret waking up today." Charlie spoke as he shook with anger. If there was one thing that you didn't mess with, it was Charlie Mercury's team. They weren't just his team, but he considered CRWN a branch of his family. Channeling his aura into Omen making the weapon turn a glowing blue, he was going to teach this punk a lesson.

 _NEVER MESS WITH TEAM CRWN_

Jumping high into the air, he swung the sword down with as much effort as he could muster. Rage was fully consuming the man in black as he descended towards his opponent. All Ryuu did was simply smirk, as he knew his moment was at hand.

 _Hm, this is too perfect…_

Swinging one leg to deliver a roundhouse kick, the tan work boots of Ryuu met the sword. Knocking the sword off trajectory, Charlie swung the sword back around to try and hit the target again, thing time catching the sword in his hands.

"You know, you've been a thorn in my ass for far too long. Consider this a message." Ryuu spoke as he activated his semblance. Instead of shooting a fireball, he instead heated his hands to an insane temperature heating the metal blade along with it.

We all know what happens when metal gets heated to that extent.

Trying with all his might, or what was left, Charlie tried to wrestle the sword out of his opponent's grip. With every attempt, the sword was falling apart piece by piece.

"Stop! You don't know what you're doing!" The man in black pleaded. He wasn't about to let some bandit ruin all the hard work he put into his blade.

"I think I know _exactly_ what I'm doing. Only question is what are you gonna do about it?" Ryuu spat with a mixture of pleasure and venom.

With a single swift motion of his hands, combined with the super heated metal blade, the blade christened Omen met it's unfortunate end.

 _SNAP!_

The shattered blade laid on the ground, with the hilt still in it's wielder's hand. Looking down in absolute shock, the man dubbed "Phantom" was oblivious to the final kick coming from Ryuu. With a definitive thud, Charlie was sent across the clearing and landed right in front of his team. Each with a look of total disbelief, they looked down at their defeated leader.

"You… you… You bastard!" Ruby said as she readied Crescent Rose, seemingly to hack the man across from them into pieces.

"Ruby! We can't keep going. We need to regroup and figure out a new plan." Weiss shouted at her partner.

"She's right Ruby. Let's go." Blake said, helping up her partner.

"You don't know what hell you've just unleashed. If I were you, I'd watch your back. You never know what's behind the corner." Ryuu spoke.

"Yeah, whatever. Just know next time, it won't end pretty." Charlie said as the rest of CRWN turned and fled the forest.

Retribution is coming, and you won't want to be on the other end of it.

 **Team CRWN Dorm – Beacon Academy – Evening**

When they arrived at Beacon, CRWN's leader refused to go to the doctors again. He instead opted to walk back to the dorms, not wanting to think to heavily about losing his precious sword. When he arrived at the door, he could hear his team talking inside. Putting his ear to the door, he listened in.

"So how do we fix this? Ruby you're the weapons expert here, can this be fixed?" he could hear Blake asking.

"No… with all the internal pieces inside, it would be impossible to reconnect all the necessary components. The best option we have is to build an entirely new weapon." Ruby said.

Hearing the door opening, Charlie walked into the room and leaned against the wall.

"I heard the last part, so if Omen can't be rebuilt what am I going to use as a weapon? It'll take months to rebuild something even close to what Omen was. So if anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears." CRWN's leader spoke, trying to not have a meltdown of his own.

"Well actually, I do have something that could be a suitable replacement. Ruby, go fetch the briefcase under my bed." Weiss asked as she walked over to the desk. Handing the briefcase to the white heiress, she opened it to reveal a very familiar weapon.

"Wait, I thought you said Omen was unrepairable. What's this?" Charlie asked as he picked up the new sword.

"Say hello to Harbinger. We all decided to remake Omen into a better weapon. This was going to be your birthday present, but hey now's a good time too." Ruby spoke as she handed Harbinger to her older brother.

"Wait… so you replace my broken weapon with a slightly more advanced weapon? Same abilities, same concept?" Charlie asked skeptically as he turned to the white heiress.

"Yep." was the response from all three members.

Looking down at the improved weapon, the feels were coming and coming hard (not like that, get your head out of the gutter).

"You guys are the best! What can this thing do!" Charlie said as he examined Harbinger with a close eye.

"Well I opted for having a more advanced voice recognition to swap between configurations, Ruby opted for it being collapsible, and Blake opted for a stronger metal for the blade." Weiss said as she handed a sheet of paper to her leader. It was a list of the voice commands, nothing too out of the ordinary.

"So next time they want to mess with us, we'll be ready. No more running off. We need to face these two as a team, got it?" Charlie said as he got a nod of affirmation from his team.

"Good, now that we have that problem handled for the time being. I believe we have a dance to get ready for. Ruby, you going with Weiss?" The man in black asked as he teased his younger sister.

"Yes she is, and you are you going with oh fearless leader?" Weiss asked in a mocking tone as she turned to give her girlfriend a kiss.

 _When did that happen? Christ I've missed a lot._ Charlie thought to himself

"I didn't plan on going with anyone. Not like anyone would want to go with me anyway. Blake, what about you?" Charlie said as he climbed into bed.

"I wasn't planning on going..." Blake said as she grabbed a book to read. She wanted to ask Charlie if he wanted to go to the dance with her, but she didn't feel like that was in the cards.

"What? Blake you gotta go, we all are. It's official, you're coming with Weiss and me when we buy your dresses." Ruby said as she took the book from Blake's hands.

"Or… you can come with me when I pick up my tux. The choice is yours." Charlie said as he leaned over the edge of his bed, his black locks falling with gravity.

"I think I'll go with Weiss and Ruby, if you two don't mind..." Blake said quietly, almost hoping they'd say no.

But of course that wouldn't happen.

"Of course you can come, the more the merrier. Right, Weiss?" Ruby said excitedly as she turned to her girlfriend.

"I have no problem with it. We're going tomorrow morning, so be ready."

"Oh, okay." Blake said trying to not sound disappointed.

"Well, glad that's settled. Ruby, can you help me get some stuff down to the ballroom? I need to start getting that set up if it's going to be ready in time." the man in black asked as he left the room, with the redhead following him out.

With plans set in stone, the siblings went to work setting up and the other two members sat and conversed like only they could. There was one question that the WhiteRose couple had on their mind, and they had talked about this with each other but never with the entire team. One that, little did either of them know, would be answered sooner than expected.

 _When would two of the darkest hunters in Beacon history finally get together?_

 **Hey, guys it's ya boi and here are a few things I want to tell you that I figured you needed to know:**

 **1) Yes, I did change my account name. The main reason being that I felt weird about having my OC's name share the name of my screen name that I use for my other online endeavors. Not sure if any of you had an issue with it but I figured I'd make that change myself before someone did have an issue with it.**

 **2) I did change the weapon of my OC but I couldn't figure out what I wanted so I changed the name of the weapon and added a few other abilities, but if there's anything you guys have for ideas on how to improve this weapon then feel free to leave me a PM and I will read it. I do, in fact, read EVERY PM I get because your opinions matter (believe it or not).**

 **Finally 3) The next chapter will be the dance chapter and I need your help. PM me with your favorite song. It can be any genre, any style. Give me the slow songs, fast songs, songs that make you wanna fight the world, if I end up liking it, then it might just make it into the chapter. I'm thinking of doing 3-5 different songs in that chapter (it'll be a long one I'm sure) and I need you're guys help with deciding the tracks for the evening.**

 **Okay so that's all I have to say, thanks for the continued reading and support and I will see you guys next time!**

 **Stay chill!**


	7. A Performance of a Lifetime

**A/N: Okay so in this chapter there's a song that is a duet. I have distinguished who is who when that time comes. It'll make more sense when you see it.**

So typically, it would be a normal chilling autumn evening but this clearly wasn't a normal evening. This was the night that many looked forward too and one black Phantom dreaded, the night of the Beacon prom. Leading up to this moment, people were confessing and picking out outfits. You know? Typical high school shit. Team CRWN had already made their plans, or at least what the other had assumed were plans. What none of CRWN knew was that their leader was in a state of mind very unfamiliar.

That was crippling anxiety.

But why? What did he have anything to be anxious about? Nothing was too out of the ordinary. Classes were the same, out of class nothing really changed, so what could it be?

He spent the next several minutes pacing back and forth in the hallway, muttering something under his breath. Charlie Mercury was a very rational man, he tried to make everything make sense. Everything had to happen for a reason. Right?

"This is a bad idea, why did I think this was a good idea. Dust, I'm an idiot!" he rambled off, his pacing speeding up as he continued. He would have continued further if he hadn't heard the door to his dorm open. Turning around, he saw Weiss was standing in the door and she didn't look happy (what else is new?).

"Can I speak with you?" Weiss asked, clearly looking annoyed with something or other.

"About?" Charlie said as he walked in to the door. Before he even finished his statement, the door closed and locked behind him. Looking around the room, he noticed JNPR sitting or standing around the room and Ruby was on her bed looking down.

Now he could have simply walked through the door, but a part of him wanted to stay and hear everyone out.

"So what exactly is this, some kind of intervention?" Charlie asked as he took the chair at the front of the room.

"You could say that, but we all heard you in the hall and we're getting to the bottom of it." Ruby said as she leapt down from her bed.

"Well I appreciate the concern, but I also don't see how this is any of your problems. So if you don't mind I'll be seeing myself out." Charlie said as he stood up and walked to the door.

"It's our problem because you're our friend. We just want to help, dude. What's so hard to see?" Jaune said as he approached the irritated Phantom.

With a deep sigh, Charlie took his seat and looked back at the room of people. "You want to know, fine. Ruby and Weiss can stay, everyone else this isn't a concern to you. If Ruby and Weiss want they can fill you in."

Not wanting to anger the man in black, JNPR took their leave leaving the Whiterose couple with their irritated leader.

After JNPR left the room, attention turned back to the leader sitting in the front of their dorm. With a simple motion of his hand, both Ruby and Weiss sat in front of their leader. Both of them wanting answer, hoping that the one person in front of them could provide.

"Okay so start from square one. What do you want to know?" Charlie asked when his nerves finally calmed, not wanting to explode on his team.

"What would you say is your relationship with Blake?" Weiss asked.

Charlie simply scoffed, "She's my partner, my teammate, someone I'd call a close friend."

"Right, but let's get more to the bone here. Let's say if something happened to Blake, what would your first reaction be?" Weiss continued.

"What are you getting at?" Charlie leaned in closer, a small frown adorning his features.

"We're speaking hypothetically, nothing's happened. You never answered my question." Weiss continued, wanting to pry the answers from the man in black sitting in front of her.

"I'd hunt down the bastard that did it to her with every ounce of vile and venom in my veins and show them the true meaning of retribution!" Charlie finally snapped, his eyes turning to the very familiar shade of icy blue.

Weiss simply flashed her trademark smirk and nodded, because if there's one thing she knew was a Schnee always got their way and even the man dubbed Phantom couldn't even escape it.

"So I'll ask again, what are you getting at?" Charlie asked again, his demeanor calming down again as icy blue returned to golden brown.

"You're in love with Blake!" Ruby said excitedly as she almost jumped out of her seat.

"And you need to act on it, cause we all know Blake isn't going to." Weiss added.

"What makes you two even think Blake even likes me? You have no proof." Charlie said as he stood up.

"Easy, when you first hospitalized she wouldn't leave. We had to almost drag her out, and when you got discharged she wouldn't let you climb into you're own bed. What does that tell you?" Ruby pointed out, giving her older brother a nudge.

"That doesn't mean anything. She was simply concerned, that it." Charlie put those claims to shame.

"Why can't you just admit it! The hints are all there, you're just too dense to see it!" Weiss all but shouted

"I'm not dense, I'm realistic. I mean look at me. What's so special about me? Besides my semblances, I'm just some average dude." Charlie shouted back.

"That's not for me to say, but you need to act on it before it's too late. She's not going to wait forever, you know." Weiss concluded, leaving her leader with nothing more than his thoughts.

 _Okay, so even if this is completely true. How do I go about this? Wait a second… ooh Mercury, you devilish genius._ Charlie thought to himself with a smile on his face, he knew exactly what he was doing. Little did he know, that someone was listening from outside. Not outside the door, but from the roof of the building. Now, who could possibly have that kind of hearing? Use your head. You already know the answer.

 **Later that evening**

Well now was the moment of truth, the night has come and the students were getting ready. This was the night that many looked forward to, and we've treaded this ground already. Teams CRWN and JNPR were getting ready together and Charlie, Jaune, and Ren were getting ready while the females of the two teams got ready separately.

 _This is going to crash and burn, I just know it. Now how do I do it? Maybe Jaune or Ren would know_ Charlie thought trying to rationalize his dilemma. One of those two had to know, well her goes nothing…

"Uh… Hey, Ren? You're a perceptive guy, right?" Charlie asked hesitantly.

"Well, I certainly try. What's wrong?" Ren asked carefully, fully remembering what happened earlier in the day.

"How would you go about telling someone you love them?" Charlie asked bluntly.

"You need to know how to confess to Blake? Just be upfront about it. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be." Ren answered simply.

Do you hear that? That is the sound of the gears finally turning. Does anyone else smell burning cobwebs?

"Oh sweet Oum, I'm stupid! Why the hell didn't I see it sooner!" Charlie facepalmed at the simplicity of the solution.

Taking one last look in the mirror, his tuxedo was a simple one. How simple? Black jacket, white dress shirt, black vest, black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a black tie. The mop of black hair that was typically a mess was brushed to the side and pulled into a small ponytail. He straightened out his jacket and brushed off his pants and grabbed his tie to put on. The Phantom of Beacon was ready, and when he walked out the door someone was already there.

Blake froze, her hand up like she was about ready to knock on the door. Her dress was a long, flowing, what some would call simple black dress with a white overcoat. Her raven hair was as flowing as always with the addition of curls. The most surprising part of her ensemble wasn't what she wore, but what she wasn't.

The bow covering her ears, what she never was without, wasn't there.

Scanning over her outfit, just as Blake scanned over her leader's suit, neither of them had any words. So what to they do? Stand there and say nothing like a total clod? Well… that's not completely wrong.

"Wow..." was the only thing either of them had to say.

Yeah, smooth.

"So? You got anyone to go to the dance with?" Blake asked sheepishly.

"No, I don't believe so." Charlie asked simply.

"Well why don't you two go with each other?" Ruby said as she and Weiss walked by.

 _Man, those two won't give_ Charlie thought again to himself.

"If you're okay with it, then I have no complaints." Charlie said as he offered his arm to his now date.

"Then we should get moving, now shouldn't we?" Blake responded, lacing her arms in his.

While the two were walking, Charlie couldn't help but contemplate his options. He knew what he had for Blake, but needed a way to express it. He may be a cunning linguist, but get him off his game and he's no better than a fish out of better. Damn internal conflict, always making shit harder.

There has to be a better way to handle this, but how?

 _Oh right, we already had that talk… Man I'm good!_

When the two arrived at the ballroom, the lights were dimmed and there were more lights strung about from the ceiling. The room carried the ambience of a starlit night sky, and its décor was certainly one to match.

"I wonder who was in charge of decorating?" Charlie asked as he and Blake walked through the door.

"I believe that was Weiss. If not her than I have no clue." Blake responded.

"The one and only." both heard Weiss across the room before they both burst into laughter.

"Well as fun as this is, I've got prior obligations to fulfill. See you in a bit, Blake." Charlie said as he walked up to the stage and prepared his equipment. Blake looked across the stage and realized that he'd be the only one up there. This is going to go well.

When more of the students filed into the ballroom, the show was ready to begin. With a tap of the mic, the feedback was enough to catch everyone's attention. With all eyes on the man on stage, it was now or never.

"I know I'm not who you figured would be here tonight, but I hope to be a suitable replacement. Now, let's get this show on the road." Charlie said as he connected his scroll to the speakers.

"What? Did you expect me to play every instrument?" Charlie said as he looked back to the small amount of laughter behind him.

Clearing his throat and with the press of a button, he began.

A well paced trumpet started the song and well you should know what happens next.

 _Had to have high hopes for a living_

 _Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing_

 _Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision_

 _Always had high, high hopes…_

 _Had to have high hopes for a living_

 _Didn't know how but I always had a feeling_

 _I was gonna be that one in a million_

 _Had to have high, high hopes..._

While Teams CRWN and JNPR knew exactly how Charlie could capture an audience with as simple as an intro, the rest of beacon knew were about to find out just how Phantom worked a crowd. While everyone else was cheering on their friend, Blake found herself just as entranced as she was back when they did karaoke. The feeling was off-putting, but not unwelcome. She felt as if even though she was in the middle of a crowd, she was the only person in the room. Almost as if the stars were perfectly aligned, the man on stage locked eyes with his partner as he continued.

 _Mama said, fulfill the prophecy_

 _Be something great, go make a legacy_

 _Manifest destiny, back in the days_

 _We wanted everything, wanted everything_

 _Mama said, burn your biographies_

 _Rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams_

 _Museum victories, every day_

 _We wanted everything, wanted everything_

The way Charlie looked at Blake before he sang, on top of what the next set of lyrics were, hit Blake with the force of a train. She knew that she'd have to confront this part of her past eventually, but she didn't know how to approach the subject with her teammates. Blake had a past with the White Fang, a past that in hindsight she wasn't proud of. When she joined, they were a pacifist group using peaceful protests to get their point across. It was fine and she felt like she was protesting for a future where everyone were equals, humans and Faunas alike. Everything then changed when the White Fang started changing tactics from peaceful to violence. That wasn't the future Blake wanted to work for, where fear was the overruling tactic. So she left the White Fang, put that part of her past in the farthest part of her mind, and joined Beacon. That's where everything turned for the better. She met Charlie and Ruby, met Weiss (although having a rough start to their friendship), and joined CRWN. Life couldn't be better in the moment, but she needed to tell them eventually.

Eventually…

After looping back through the chorus, Charlie took the mic off of the stand and started pacing back and forth across the stage while incorporating little hand movements and gestures into his performance to add a little something to the show. If there was one thing that was to be known about CRWN's resident man in black: he was always a showman. There was nothing bland or normal or average about anything he did. Whether in was the little inflections in his voice when he spoke or the little quirks in his personality, he never did anything by the books and that's what made him different.

 _Mama said, it's uphill for oddities_

 _Stranger crusaders, ain't ever wannabes_

 _The weird and the novelties don't ever change_

 _We wanted everything, wanted everyone_

 _Stay up on that rise_

 _Stay up on that rise and never look down_

 _Stay up on that rise_

 _Stay up on that rise and never look down_

 _Mama said don't give up, it's a little complicated_

 _All tied up, no more love and I'd hate to see you waiting_

 _They say it's all been done but they haven't seen the best of me, me, me, me_

 _So I got one more run and it's gonna be a sight to see, see, see, see_

As they instrumental cut out, Charlie finished the chorus to a surprisingly thunderous applause. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he grabbed the bottle of water kept onstage and took a drink of it. After a few more moments, he put the mic back on the stand and pulled out a grand piano which was in the corner. He pulled the cover off and threw it off to the side where it landed with a thud.

"Okay, so I figured I'd be doing this on my own but on closer consideration that was a dumb idea. So what's a guy to do? Easy, find people to help for no pay." Charlie said, the last part eliciting a small bit of laughter. "Back to business, I found someone who has a surprisingly good singing voice. Not as good as mine, but that's neither here nor there. Please help me in welcoming on stage Team JNPR leader, Jaune Arc!"

With a small applause, Jaune walked on stage and pulled up a chair next to the piano. After doing a small bit of adjusting, Charlie sat on the piano bench and played what appeared to be a random note. After Jaune hummed the note on pitch and giving a small nod, Charlie prepared to start playing.

"Okay, this next song is going to be a bit slower than usual. So, grab that special someone that I'm sure came with you of their own accord and take the floor. This one's for you, ya lovebirds." Charlie said as he played the first song and the song began.

 _C: Katie, don't cry I know… you're trying your hardest_

 _And the hardest part is letting go of the night's we shared_

 _Ocala is calling_

 _And you know it's haunting_

 _But compared to your eyes, nothing shines quite as bright_

 _And when we look to the sky it's not mine, but I want it so_

 _J: Let's not pretend like you're alone tonight_

 _C: I know he's there and_

 _J: You're probably hanging out and making eyes_

 _C: While across the room he stares_

 _J: I'll bet he gets the nerve to walk the floor and ask my girl to dance_

 _And she'll say yes_

 _C: Because these words were never easier, for me to say or her to second guess_

 _But I guess…_

 _J: That I can live without you but_

 _C: Without you I'll be miserable at best_

 _J: You're all that I hoped I'd find in every single way_

 _And everything I would give is everything you couldn't take_

 _Cause nothing feels like home_

 _You're a thousand miles away_

 _And the hardest part of living is just taking the breaths to stay_

 _Cause I know I'm good for something I just haven't found it yet_

 _But I need it… so_

 _J: Let's not pretend like you're alone tonight_

 _C: I know he's there and_

 _J: You're probably hanging out and making eyes_

 _C: While across the room he stares_

 _J: I'll bet he gets the nerve to walk the floor and ask my girl to dance_

 _And she'll say yes_

 _C: Because these words were never easier, for me to say or her to second guess_

 _But I guess…_

 _J: That I can live without you but_

 _C: Without you I'll be miserable at best_

With the quick change from a faster paced song to a somber one, the intonation was difficult to miss. Something both Blake and Pyrrah noticed was the way both men seemed like they were both using all the emotion they could muster. Blake being every the analyst noticed the change in expression of her teammate's face. Before he had all the enthusiasm in the world and now it seemed like all of it had been sapped away and this was the emotionless husk that was left. Is this now he was when no-one was around? You never do know what happens behind closed doors, and he did have all this time to prepare.

"You know, he probably picked this for a reason." Ruby said as she and Weiss took a break from dancing.

"What do you mean? He seems like person to me." Weiss asked her girlfriend, taking a look at the stage when Ruby pointed at it.

"Look at him, you can practically tell that he's hiding something behind the mask. Listen closely to the words. He's sung this before so I know what's coming next. Blake listen closely and think about the words. The rest should come in no time." Ruby said as she took Weiss's hand and led her back to the floor. Doing as her teammate instructed, she took a closer look. During the instrumental break, she saw Charlie mouth something like 'I got this' to Jaune. What ever it meant, he nodded and moved the mic away from his mouth leaving the man in black to carry on the rest of the song.

 _And this'll be the first time in a week  
That I'll talk to you and I can't speak  
It's been three whole days since I've had sleep  
'Cause I dream of his lips on your cheek  
And I got the point that I should leave you alone  
But we both know that I'm not that strong  
And I miss the lips that made me fly_

Carrying on the final chorus by himself, Blake noticed a single tear fall as the final note played. The sight of this made her realize that her leader has feelings for her, broke her heart, and surprised her all at once. She never saw this side of the fabled Phantom, the side that he tried to keep under lock and key. The side that he only showed to those he truly trusted. The side that only showed when all his resolve was stripped away. Taking a moment to regain his composure, he then stood up and walked back up to the mic.

"Wanna good guess who wasn't expecting that emotional rollercoaster?" Charlie joked as he straightened out his attire. It was like he had a switch, going from sad and desolate to upbeat and jovial. There was something behind it, a method to the madness.

"So this will be the last song I've got prepared to perform tonight before I hand things off to the true hero of the evening, our fantastic DJ Lie Ren. You didn't think I'd sing for 4 hours did you?" Charlie said before he turned off the mic attached to the mic stand and attached a wireless mic to his jacket.

"So you're probably wondering about the new mic, right? Well that's an easy one, I'm singing this one but I'm not playing the piano. This one needed a few favors called, but it was well worth it. Sorry sis, but right now I need her more than you. Please welcome to the stage my fantastic teammate, Weiss Schnee." Charlie applauded as his teammate walked to center stage and took her seat at the piano.

"Thanks again Weiss, I appreciate it." Charlie said as he covered the mic.

"Not a problem, but you'll have to deal with your sister later." Weiss said.

"Eh, that won't be a problem. She can try to guilt me all she wants, but I've developed a resistance to her tactics. Don't start until I give you the signal." Charlie said as he turned, getting a nod from Weiss.

"So I know it's weird to have two slow songs back to back, but this one's a last minute decision. Feel free to grab that special someone and join the floor. Trust me, this one's worth it." Charlie said as he walked off the stage and walked across the floor. With all eyes on him (including a well placed spotlight), he approached his partner. Blake looked at her partner, being one of the many students to have absolutely no clue what was happening next.

"Ms. Blake Belladonna, may I have this dance?" Charlie asked as he held out his hand.

"Didn't you say you had one more song to sing?" Blake asked quietly.

"Who said I can't do both?" Charlie responded as he took Blake's hand and led her to the center of the floor.

Placing his hands on Blake's hips as he wrapped her arms around his neck, he simply smirked.

"Did you plan all this?" Blake asked as she just realized what was happening.

"A good magician never reveals his secrets." Charlie responded, as he tried hard to be cryptic

With a simple point of his finger Weiss began playing, and this final song from the leader of CRWN wasn't going to disappoint. Not if he could help it.

 _It's underneath my skin_

 _These god forsaken memories_

 _The puppet takes the stage he'll carry on_

 _Forgotten who I am_

 _But all the world keeps telling me_

 _It may be where you live but it's not you're home_

As they two swayed to the beat, golden brown never leaving shining amber, it all fell into place for the Faunas of Team CRWN. Each song had her in mind, and each song exemplified how he felt for her and what he always wanted to say. Putting all that out of her mind, she refocused on the man in front of her.

 _I got a one way ticket straight out of here_

 _And I don't know where it goes_

 _It's not the destination, it's the crawl_

 _Was it out of love or out of fear?_

 _If you ask me, I don't know_

 _You forget how to want once you've had it all_

 _You can take me anywhere_

 _You can take me anywhere_

 _I got a way back home and an open door_

 _To everything I left, face down on the floor_

 _You know you can take me anywhere_

As the song progressed, everyone's attention was on the couple in the center. Both JNPR and Ruby had their gazes fixed on the raven haired couple in front of them. They all knew it was a long time in the making, but the payoff for what everyone else thought was a no brainer felt so good.

 _It's underneath my skin_

 _Like ink that's still reminding me_

 _A night where everything's not as it seems_

 _A thousand widened smiles_

 _But none contain no empathy_

 _Paper thin, they're seeing right through me_

 _I got a one way ticket straight out of here_

 _And I don't know where it goes_

 _Ignore the rise but everyone sees you fall_

 _Was it out of love or out of fear?_

 _If you ask me, I don't know_

 _You forget how to want once you've had it all_

 _You can take me anywhere_

 _You can take me anywhere_

 _I got a way back home and an open door_

 _To everything I left, face down on the floor_

 _You know you can take me anywhere_

With each passing verse and chorus, Charlie found himself just flowing with the beat and woman in front of him. He didn't need to think about what was coming next and didn't have to worry. All he needed and all he wanted was just Blake.

 _Well hopefully this works, if not then I don't know how more to express myself_ Charlie thought to himself as the instrumental break was about to end.

 _It's easy to see it, to hard to believe it_

 _But once in a while you just gotta come clean_

 _Now you try to hide it, but you can't deny it_

 _It's falling apart, tearing up at the seams_

 _I give it my best, secretly I'm a mess_

 _But sooner or later it's bound to rise_

 _There's so many warnings that I've been ignoring_

 _Now it's shutting down_

 _You can take me anywhere_

 _You can take me anywhere_

 _I got a way back home and an open door_

 _To everything I left, face down on the floor_

 _You know you can take me anywhere_

As the song reached it's end, the two's eyes never left each other. Even amongst the cheers of their friends, it was as if it they were the only two in the room. Nothing else mattered to the two members of CRWN, absolutely nothing.

"Blake, there's something I need to tell yo-" Charlie said before being cut off by a kiss from his partner.

More cheers erupted from the crowd, and more especially from the two teams off to their right. Several months of repressed feeling came to the surface as the two continued their kiss for what felt forever. Being taken by surprise, it didn't take much longer before the leader of CRWN melted into the kiss. They finally parted, they were going to need air at some point, before Charlie could even ask Blake interjected.

"Actions speak louder than words, right?" Blake asked. When she received a simple nod from her leader, she smiled gave him a simpler peck on his cheek.

"Well that does it for my performance tonight, Thank you all for giving me your time. Now if you'll excuse me. I have something more important to handle. So from Team CRWN, I bid you all goodnight. Ren, take it away!" Charlie said as he turned off the mic on his jacket and took it off. Turning his attention back to Blake, he extended his hand to his partner and gave a quick point to the door. Blake took his hand and gave a quick nod, and the two left together.

When the two stopped walking, they made it out to the balcony. Not just any balcony, but the same one where Charlie came to on the first night their team was formed.

"So that was a thing, huh?" Charlie said after they walked to the edge of the balcony. Not one for making small talk typically, he was left with almost no words and it sucked. He hated not being able to express whatever he was feeling in a moment and now was an inopportune time for it to happen.

"Yeah, yeah it was." Blake responded as simply as her leader asked the question.

"So... what happens now?" Charlie asked as he looked over to the company he had.

"What do you think genius? If I were a betting girl, I'd say we were dating. What says you, Phantom?" Blake responded in a very familiar way.

"You've taken a few pages out of my book, haven't you?" Charlie asked with what can be described as the biggest shit-eating smirk on his face.

"I'd like to take a few more things from you..." Blake mumbled under her breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it. It's getting late, what do you say about heading back to the dorm and getting ready for sleep?" Blake asked as she turned her head to her now boyfriend.

"Sleep sounds pretty damn good right now, so I'll happily take you up on that offer." Charlie said as he stifled a yawn.

As the two walked back to their dorm, they could still hear the music coming from the ballroom. The two shared laughs as they remembered all the crazy hijinks that occurred during the dance. Who knew Jaune had moves like that? When the two got to their dorm, unlocked the door, and went inside they changed out of their nice clothes. Blake changed in the bathroom while Charlie changed out in the room. It wouldn't be an issue because they both knew that Ruby and Weiss were staying until the end, or until Ruby got tired (whichever happened first). When Blake was done changing, she stepped out and saw Charlie already asleep in his bed.

When she made her way over to his bed, trying her best to not disturb the sleeping huntsman, she placed a hand on her leader head and immediately recoiled at the cold that she felt.

"You're gonna catch a cold eventually, you idiot." she said under her breath as she carefully tucked in her leader and slipped into her own bed. Blake pulled out a book and started reading, opting to read herself to sleep. About halfway through her reading she noticed a hand slip from the bed above her. Looking up, she couldn't help but smile as she reached out and held the hand dangling above her.

"You truly are an idiot, but I'm glad you're mine..." Blake said as she let go of the hand and laid down and drifted off to sleep.

 **A/N: This took me 12 pages to write. Man this really was a long chapter. Sorry if the ending wasn't what you were expecting, but romance has never been my strong suit. Also if you were curious as to what songs I used in the chapter there they are:**

" **High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco**

" **Miserable At Best" by Mayday Parade**

" **Take Me Anywhere" by Nathan Sharp**

 **Well, that was the chapter. See you next time. I'd say stay chill but there's snow on the ground where I live and I'm not pleased.**

 **-HoS**


	8. A Challenge and A Mistake

The days following the dance were par for the course as far the Charlie was concerned. School was as normal as a school about hunting monsters of darkness could get, but there were a few things that was different. Phantom had his own shadow.

It was an odd feeling, but nonetheless welcome. Wherever Charlie was, Blake wasn't too far behind. Having her around was like a breath of fresh air, always having something to contribute no matter the situation. Whether is was studying or maintenance, having another set of hands was always a help.

Sparring had become a regular part of Charlie's day, typically against whatever student was in the sparring room at the time or an unfortunate practice dummy if no one was there. On one of these instances, the sparring room was completely empty, giving CRWN's leader some time to think.

Setting his scroll down on the counter near the entrance to the room and connecting it to the speaker he brought, he selected a playlist and grabbed Harbinger. The music was always a way for him to think a little bit clearer. It made no sense to anyone considering his affinity for fast paced rock and metal music, but the music was a way to express emotions when words couldn't.

Halfway through his training session, Charlie sensed another person try to enter quietly. He figured it was another student wanting to get some practice in for Goodwitch's class. Focusing on what was in front of him, he never let his eyes leave the practice dummy. As he continued, his speed started to pick up. Faster and faster, each slash connecting in quicker and quicker succession. Switching Harbinger to scythe mode, he delivered a definitive final blow that sent to dummy flying across the room. Taking a deep breath followed by a deep sigh he turned around to find Ren sitting on the bench across the room.

"Hey Ren, something I can help you with?" Charlie asked as he held Harbinger at his side.

"You seem to be troubled, and I simply wish to help you." Ren said cooly as he always was.

"I don't think there's much to help. I'm perfectly fine." Charlie said as Harbinger stayed in a firm grip.

"I believe that says different." Ren said as he gestured to the training dummy that was launched across the room.

" _That_ mean nothing. I can't help it if my swing's that strong." Charlie simply shrugged as he compacted Harbinger and clipped it to his waist.

"I think there's more than you're leading on. I've been observing you for the past few days and I've noticed a notable change in your demeanor." Ren elaborated as he remained in his seat.

"A change how? I'm the same person I've always been." Charlie said back.

"You've never been a person to change how he acts, but recently your heads always looking around almost as if you're expecting somebody to jump out. You have a hard time sitting still as you're always fidgeting with something. If you're worried about telling somebody, you have my word that I will keep whatever it is between the two of us." Ren said as he motioned for his friend to sit down. 'Friend' might be a bit much considering the two almost never interacted but Ren was just the same as Charlie, always wanting to help the best way he can.

"So about me always fidgeting, that one is easy to explain. Have you ever heard of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?" Charlie turned to ask Ren who simply shook his head. "Putting it simply, there's something wired differently in my head that makes my attention span borderline non-existent. There's nothing I can really do about it. I space out, I forget where I put things down, I have difficulty paying attention and not to mention more energy than I feasibly know what to do with. Now as for why I'm always looking around, that's a whole different can of worms that I don't want to involve you in." Charlie explained as he turned to look at the man sitting beside him, his hand moving in a way to indicate continuing his explanation.

"There's someone out there who wants me dead, I don't know who they are but they know me. We've had a couple of encounters with them, and both ended up badly. It's like they know every move I'm going to make before I can even make it. They're the reason why Omen is no more. Whoever they are, I need to be ready for them." Charlie said as he stood up and unclipped Harbinger.

"I understand that you feel under attack by an unknown assailant, but you need to pace yourself. You can't keep going until you drive yourself into the ground. That will only make you more of an easy target." Ren said as he never moved from his spot.

"You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Blake. I suppose you're right, as much as it kills me inside to admit it. However, I can't just sit on my hands and do nothing. So whatcha' got for me now, Ren the almighty guru?" Charlie asked as he grabbed the water bottle from his bag and took a drink.

"Have you ever thought of picking up a hobby?" Ren asked as he stood up and started stretching.

"You clearly have forgotten I'm one of, if not _the_ , most musically inclined student in Beacon. Now I'm no genius, well maybe I am but who asked, but that counts as a hobby in my book." Charlie said as he couldn't help but notice how Ren was almost always at ease.

"Now if you don't mind me asking, how is it you're always calm? You're calm more often than not, and I need to know your secrets." Charlie asked as his curiosity got the better of him.

"Meditation. Now if you don't mind, I would like some silence." Ren stated simply as if it were the easiest question in the world.

"One last question. Do you have any ideas for how I can level out this stress?" Charlie asked as he started packing his bag and weapon.

"I believe you're asking the wrong person. Instead of asking me, why not ask someone a bit closer to you? They would certainly know." Ren said as he resumed his exercises.

With the gears in his head turning, the noir huntsman grinned as he had an idea of who to ask. Who was someone who could help him unwind? Who had the calming aura, for lack of a better term, that he needed?

Well it's not Ruby, use your head.

Weiss probably wouldn't be much better.

So who does that leave?

"Oh, of course. How could I be that stupid?" Charlie asked himself. As he walked out the training room, he felt a vibration in his pocket as he grabbed his scroll. It was a message from Professor Goodwitch, asking for all the team leaders to meet in her classroom in 30 minutes. Pondering why she would request only the leaders, he put his scroll away as he headed for his dorm to change.

 **Team CRWN Dorm**

When he arrived at the dorms, Charlie unlocked the door and set his bag down in the chair next to the door. Looking up, he saw that no one was there and a note was left on the desk. Perplexed, he grabbed the folded paper and noticed the elegant and unmistakeable cursive written on the page.

 _Went into Vale with Ruby and Weiss to do some grocery shopping, we'll be back soon enough. Text me when you get back._

 _I love you._

 _-Blake_

Smiling at the note left for him, he went to the washroom and turned on the shower and let the water warm up before he stepped in. Charlie had his scroll playing music, and of course he was singing while he did his business. While the hot water was nice and the music he had playing was perfect for the moment, there was one thing that was driving the leader insane. He and Blake had been together for only a short while, but he felt bad for never really doing anything for his girlfriend.

"Well that can't do. Now, how do I do it?" he proposed the question to nobody in particular as he finished his shower and rinsed out his hair. Admittedly, he had zero clue where to even start. Kinda sad considering they had been partners for a handful of months by this point and spent almost everyday together even before they started dating.

"What are things that Blake likes? She seemed to enjoy the walk through the farmer's market when we did that. I should try to be a bit more original than that." Charlie mumbled to himself. He needed an idea, but not just any idea. He needed the best possible idea he could muster. If you didn't know, average wasn't a word in CRWN's vernacular. His thoughts would be put on the back burner as he heard a soft knock at the door. He grabbed a shirt from his dresser and slipped on a pair of jeans and went to open the door to see absolutely nobody there. What a surprise, right?

Scanning the hallway both ways left, right, then left again he shrugged thinking he just heard something. Looking down at the floor when a glimmer caught his eye. A large white box was on the floor with handwriting he never seen before, very blocky and unnatural. Taking the box inside and shutting the door behind him, Charlie took the note and read it over:

 _You know it's getting cold outside_

 _Your talent not going unchecked_

 _Here's a gift from me to you_

 _Someone you might not expect_

"Okay that has to be the cheesiest thing I've ever read and I know cheesy. Okay, what's in the box." Charlie said as he opened the box. What he found inside was freshly made combat gear. Consisting of a pair of what appeared to be black leather pants with an icy blue trim, a pair of fingerless black gloves, and a leather jacket with matching blue trim around it. Curious eyes scanned over the jacket, when he picked it up he read the back of it. White embroidering on the back over a shining golden crown read:

 _Mercury_

 _The CRWN Jewel_

Puzzled by the new moniker, he scanned over all the new gear laid out on his bed and thought over it long and hard. With a simple shrug of his shoulders he slipped out of his clothes and tried the new garbs on. When he looked in the mirror attached to the bathroom door, one question threw him for the biggest loop he'd ever had. Who on Oum's green Remnant knew his measurements enough to craft an entire new set of combat gear for him? Casting that thought aside, he remembered he still had a meeting to attend. Grabbing his scroll and Harbinger, he went off to meet Professor Goodwitch.

 **Beacon Academy Sparring Class**

After rushing and throwing open the door, Professor Goodwitch cast a small glance towards that gave the leader enough incentive to sit down.

"Mr. Mercury, glad you decided to join us." Goodwitch said as Charlie took his seat not wanting to waste any time.

"Sorry professor, something came up." he replied as he took himself next to Jaune.

"Dude, nice threads. Where'd you get them?" The blonde leader whispered.

"No clue, found them in a box outside the door. You wouldn't happen to know anyone who left them did you?" Charlie asked, getting only a confused look and a shrug as Goodwitch began he speech.

"Thank you for all joining me here. As you all know, we here at Beacon aim to teach you all you need to know before we send you out into the world as professional huntsman and huntresses. With that said, we can only do so much and we leave it to the leaders of our teams to keep their teammates up to the standard we want to set. With much consideration from both myself and Headmaster Ozpin, we've decided for your next project to be a team building exercise. You will face each of your teammates and assess them on how much they've learned in your short stay at Beacon. These will be one-on-one matches that follow tournament rules. You are not to inform your team of this and not grade them with any bias. We will start next week with these tests and each team will be fighting in front of the class. You will also be graded on your assessment of your team compared to the assessment we will give as well. If we feel that your grade accurately matches what we've seen, then you're team will receive a good grade as a result. Are there any questions?" Professor Goodwitch ended her speech with no questions asked, therefore sending all the leaders on their way.

When he arrived back at the dorms, he saw that Blake, Ruby, and Weiss had all made it back. Without even thinking about it, he took of his new jacket and put it and Harbinger on his bed and sat down next to Blake. Lacing his hand in her's, he looked over and smiled.

"So what did you do today?" Blake asked as she smiled back and visibly relaxed. How anyone here could relax right now was anyone's guess, but lo and behold Blake Belladonna was the most relaxed one of them all.

"Oh you know, hit the gym, demolished a training dummy, got some words of encouragement, found a strange package outside the door, went to a meeting with Goodwitch." Charlie rattled off his day and would have continued if it weren't for an interrupting Blake.

"Hang on. You got a package today? When?" She asked with an almost annoyed tone to her voice.

"Uhh, today. While I was taking a shower. Before I left for that meeting. Why?" Charlie answer with a confused look on his face.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Anything else interesting happen today?" Blake asked, quickly sweeping the concern under the carpet.

"Nothing really of note." Charlie said before a vicious cough erupted from the leader.

"Woah, you okay?" Ruby asked, leaning in to get a better look at her older brother.

"Yeah, just-" Charlie said before another coughing fit enveloped the male of Team CRWN.

"You don't seem fine. Are you catching a cold?" Weiss asked as she looked over from her desk.

"No. I don't get sick. I'm just fine." Charlie said quickly as he cleared his throat and stood up.

"That seems to be a lie. Are you absolutely sure? You seem to be a bit pale" Blake asked.

"I'm telling you all I'm fine. Nothing to be concerned about. I just need some water." Charlie said before he stood up.

"I'll get it." Blake said as she walked out the door, leaving her team behind.

"Why didn't she just do get some from the bathroom? Would have made a bit more sense." Ruby asked.

"It's Blake, she does things in her own way." Charlie said before he sat down in a chair next to his bed.

"Was it me, or did Blake seem a bit annoyed about you finding that package today?" Weiss asked as she finished her work and turned to face her girlfriend and leader.

"Jealousy?" Ruby asked, trying to weed out any possible answer.

"No, that doesn't sound right. Blake typically isn't jealous of anything." Charlie said as he took a cough drop out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth.

"It's almost like she had something planned, and it didn't go as she hoped." Weiss said as Blake walked in through the door.

"Here, drink." She said as he handed the glass to Charlie.

Blake mumbled something under her breath and Charlie could have sworn he heard he say something.

"I know I should have done something sooner..."

"You know this isn't your fault Blake. It's mine for being so stupid. I probably should have known better than to walk around in almost winter weather without a jacket. Should have just gone and bought a new one." The leader said before another he endured another coughing fit.

This wasn't any normal coughing, but one that rattled the formidable Phantom to his core. Which was surprising as nothing human could disable Charlie Mercury such as this. Seems kinda stupid and also poetic when you stop to think about it.

Nothing could stop Phantom, except the man himself.

"Face it, you're getting sick. You really shouldn't be pushing yourself this hard." Ruby said as she prepared to fight her older brother.

"Hey! I don't get sick!" Charlie snapped back.

"Care to test that theory?" Ruby replied with one of those knowing looks in her eye.

"With pleasure. Care to take it outside?" Charlie asked as he stood up and grabbed Harbinger.

"What do you think you're doing? You're in no shape for a fight." Blake stood in front of the door, trying to block the exit.

"My favorite pastime, proving people wrong." Charlie said before he activated Phantom and fazed through the door and subsequently Blake.

Blake never stopped to wonder that happened whenever Charlie used his semblance to walk through surfaces, but this was the first time he ever used it to walk through people. The only thing Blake could describe it as was a chilling, borderline freezing, sensation. It was almost if all her body heat was taken away in a simple second. As if a ghost had walked through her.

Now it makes sense, doesn't it?

"You should have seen that coming, Blake." She heard her leader say

"He's right you know." Ruby said as she walked pass Blake and out the door.

"Damn right I am." She again heard her leader shouting down the hall.

"We should go to make sure they don't kill each other." Weiss said as she grabbed her scroll.

"I suppose. Why are you grabbing your scroll?" Blake asked.

"In case he loses in horrendous fashion. He needs to take his ego down a few pegs." Weiss said with a definitive tone.

"How have we stayed on the same page this long?" Blake asked out loud when Weiss had left the room.

 **Beacon Academy Sparring Room**

With the monochrome partners off to the side, the siblings stood across from each other with their weapons drawn.

"So because I'm feeling generous, I'll let you pick which weapon you fight. So, scythe or sword?" Charlie asked before he grabbed Harbinger.

"You should already know, dear brother of mine." Ruby replied confidently.

"Right, how silly of me. Allow me to rectify that." Charlie said before he equipped his scythe and held it in a similar stance to his sister.

"How many times do you think they fought each other?" Blake asked as she leaned over to Weiss.

"Too many time to count, I'm sure." Weiss replied as she hit record.

"Okay, count it down!" Ruby shouted.

"It would be my honor. Just remember, there's no escape from crossing fate" Charlie replied.

The two counted down in unison.

3…

2…

1…

"GO!" the two siblings shouted before disappearing in both a cloud of fog and a flurry of rose petals.

While nothing could be seen with the naked eye, nor Weiss's camera. Blake could see everything with startling detail. Every swing, every block, every counterattack captured and engrossed in her memory. The two siblings knew each other like a book, every tactic had a counter, every counter had yet another counter, each opening had an answer for it.

As the opening flurry slowed out, the brother and sister began slowly coming back into focus. The black mist and rose petals began to fall and settle on the ground. While Ruby hadn't broken a sweat, her older brother on the other hand was struggling to catch his breath. He was heavily breathing almost gasping for air.

"Maybe we should call it?" Ruby asked, heavily concerned for her leader's, her brother's, health and wellbeing.

"No… I'm… fine..." Charlie said shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked again, not wanting to continue if her opponent couldn't.

"For the last time, yes! I am perfectly fine!" Charlie snapped again as he held Harbinger in a death grip.

Stabling his stance, breaths labored and ragged, he made his advance. Each swing with some shred of tactic or reason behind it, but clearly messing something.

"Blake, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Weiss whispered.

"He's falling behind, look closer. He hasn't tried to active Advent yet. He hasn't forgotten has he?" Blake asked.

"No he hasn't. He's hasn't forgotten, but he's clearly lacking something." Weiss said perplexed.

"Oh my Oum..." Blake said with a sudden realization.

"Blake. What is it?" Weiss asked with a heavy layer of confusion.

"Look very closely at his eyes" Blake said with a very serious tone.

Upon closer inspection, Weiss noticed what Blake and clearly Ruby did as well. His eyes while they weren't golden brown or icy blue, were glazed over in an almost opaque and hazy blue color.

"Ruby, please end this quickly." Blake said quietly, hoping no one would have heard her.

"Come on… I've still got gas in the tank..." Charlie said as his words began to sound slurred and mudded.

"I really don't want to do this… please don't make me do this." Ruby pleaded, now she really didn't want to continue.

"Fine. Have it your way..." Charlie said as he turned Harbinger into a sword and lunged.

Quickly dodging the swing, Ruby swung and landed a hit with the blunt end of Crescent Rose. The blow sent Charlie towards his partner. He struggled to get back to his feet and limped over to his opponent, for lack of a better term.

Charlie changed tactics again, throwing a few sloppy punches that Ruby easily dodged. Ruby landed a solid kick to her older brother's midsection that dropped Charlie to his knees. Ruby looked over at the other two members of her team, both of which couldn't keep watching. Blake had her eyes glued to the floor. Weiss's eyes were wide in shock. Charlie tried again to make it to his feet, mumbling and slurring his words.

"If you're going to finish it, then finish it." Charlie said, finally excepting the fact that was blisteringly obvious.

"I'm sorry… I love you." Ruby said before she landed a hard kick to her brother's head, effectively knocking out her older brother.

The thud and clatter of Charlie and Harbinger hitting the ground was all that Blake needed to hear before she rushed over to her fallen leader.

"You never cease to amaze me, you know." Blake whispered to the unconscious man.

Weiss went over to her girlfriend, who looked on completely distraught from what she had to do.

"Ruby, you know this isn't your fault. He told you to finish it, and you did. You did nothing wrong." Weiss said as she consoled the crying redhead in her arms.

"I'll let you two have your time. I'll take dumbass here back to the dorms and get the doctor." Blake said as she picked up her boyfriend off the floor and carried him out the door.

"I'm gonna have to keep my eye on you aren't I?" Blake said as she made the trek to their dorm.

She never understood what came over her partner in the moment, whether it was pride or some other reason that only he could understand. What was it that made the two connect? They were had two separate personalities, two separate styles of fighting, and two separate philosophies for why they were huntsmen. Yet they gelled and were two of the best duos in their class. They had a mental connection that anyone else would dream of.

"Blake… what happened?" Charlie said as he came back to reality.

"You fought Ruby and lost." Blake said quickly as her concern was palpable.

"Blake, is it cold in here?" Charlie asked as he began trembling

"Shh, you're gonna feel better soon." Blake promised as she picked up her pace.


End file.
